Only Trying
by MonkeysOnRollerskates
Summary: Odin has decided that the best punishment for Loki would be to send him back to Earth, giving the humans jurisdiction. Unfortunately, thanks to his brother, he is intercepted by S.H.E.I.L.D and held there. At the same time, a new agent has arrived with an "out of this world" secret. Will they learn to trust each other, or will someone else sweep her off her feet? Eventual Loki/OC!
1. Chapter 1

The shining halls of the palace gave off a deceptively bright, cheery air. It would have been a relaxing day if it wasn't for the matter of Loki's trial.

_Even the world is happy that I'm finally getting 'what I deserve'_ Loki thought wryly. Outside he could see that the sun was setting over the mountains of Asgard, only enhancing the bright, golden light.

"Loki Odinson -"

"-Laufeyson, you mean. If you command _me _to speak with absolute truth and honesty, I should expect to be given the same courtesy." Loki cut in coldly. The mask was still clenching his jaw, making speech not impossible but slightly painful.

"Loki of Asgard," his adoptive father continued, with an edge of finality in his voice, "you stand to face punishment for your crimes against the people of Earth, and waging war against your own brother. What do you have to say?"

"What must I say? I do not deny these claims; the proof is all around me. I was wronged. The throne of Asgard was ripped from me, so I sought to rule over a lesser race. I am sorry for how the events of my unfortunate fate played out, but if you wish me to beg forgiveness from a life that has shun me and held me in shadows, you will be disappointed." Loki stood in his defiant, matter-of-fact way. The sunlight was now reflecting against the silver of his clothing, making it now appear gold and green.

Odin leaned back on his throne with a look of… what was it… pity? _He pities me? After what I had just said?_ Loki thought to himself, _despite it all, still trying to play the father to me_. Loki himself almost felt regret for a second, after seeing the look on his mother's face. She had wanted him to repent, he knew, and restored to his previous life as Prince of Asgard, the Prince of Thor's Shadow. They had wanted the truth from him, and there it was. The plain, hard truth. It wasn't Loki's fault he had been cast out and torn away from the throne, it wasn't his fault that his brother was everything he wasn't, it wasn't his fault that Odin had found him, a bastard Frost Giant baby, alone and helpless.

"Father, he knows not what he says!" Thor heatedly put in. Despite it all, he still wanted a good life for his brother.

_The fool._

Loki gave Odin a look, one meant to convey that he knew exactly what he was saying- and not regretting it, either.

With a resigned sigh and a shake of his aging head, Odin finally declared, "Loki, son of the Allfather, Odin, Prince of Asgard, you must be punished for your misdeeds. However, I do not see fit that we should be the ones to punish you."

The God of Mischief looked up with a pang of surprise. _He can't possibly mean-_

"It is my decision that you will be sent back down to Midgard, to let the humans bestow punishment upon you at their own will. Your brother, Thor, will escort you, and see that no harm comes to you until you reach the hands of the human authorities. After that… may fate be kind to you."

He expected a great many things: being forced to apologize, giving up his powers, being exiled, but not this. Not being thrown into the mercy of the weak human wretches. He looked around at the faces of other Asgardians. Some looked satisfied, while others seemed upset that they would not get to see him pay. Thor seemed to be formulating a plan- or whatever his brutish mind can form.

As everyone was starting to leave, Thor grabbed his brother's arm.

"Don't worry, brother. I know where to take you. You will not be harmed."

* * *

Second Lieutenant Beth Chednik was walking through the halls of headquarters, keeping stride with the tall, one-eyed man who was to be her director. Nick Fury was showing her around the main base, located two miles below the famous Stark Tower.

"During your application process our scanners seemed to pick something up in you. We're not sure what it is, but whatever it is makes you stand out. Your strength and will are… unique. You will be placed in the criminal department."

"Isn't S.H.E.I.L.D just one big criminal department?" she raised one eyebrow, looking up at the man.

Fury let out a small, deep chuckle at the quip. "To put it crudely, yes. But you will be specifically dealing with the criminals: their caretaking, interrogations, and file-checks. Whoever we hold, you manage. At the moment we don't have anyone in, but you'll be studying the files of our most notorious foes. For right now I think we'll take you up to the main room to meet our newest defense force. They're all still here, with the exception of Thor. Since you'll be taking care of the trash, it's only fair that you get to meet the garbage men themselves."

Beth nodded curtly, respectfully, as her short stint of army training trained her to do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading so far! This may be a slow chapter, but it takes off from here, I promise! Reviews and comments on what you may want to see more/less of would be fantastic, no haters please. Thank you and enjoy :)**

There were five of them. They all stood in front of her, staring at the brown haired, freckle-faced new recruit Fury placed there.

"This is Second Lieutenant Beth Chednik. She is our newest agent; I'm putting her in the criminal department. I thought she should get to meet you all, since you'll probably be seeing her a lot."

He then motioned over to each in turn, and each went up and introduced themselves to her. Beth thought it was just the slightest bit awkward that she knew who they were- the whole country did- but here she was, meeting the recently-made-legendary heroes.

"Agent Natasha Romanova." Black Widow shook her hand.

_She really is as pretty as everyone says, _Beth thought. _ I wonder if she's just as dangerous, too._

"Clint Barton. Nice to meet you." Hawkeye gave her a smile and a nod.

"I'm pretty sure you already know who I am, sweet cheeks. If not just look up and you'll see my name right outside." Iron Man took Beth's hand and gave it a squeeze, while cockily glancing upwards. If being a superhero hasn't given him enough attention, he also had Stark Tower to remind himself how big he was.

"Doctor Bruce Banner, how do you do." The man who could turn into the Hulk gave her a shy smile, at the same time straightening the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

"-he's our Hulk, so don't make him mad, okay" Iron Man interjected avidly.

_How easy IS it to make him mad? I think I'd rather just steer clear of him for now…_

Lastly, the famously handsome Captain America walked over to her.

"Lieutenant, you said? I was in the army myself." He said. _He's actually trying to start a conversation? With me?_

"I am. It's an honor to meet you, Captain Rogers." Beth smiled up at him.

"So what division-"

"-She's a little too young for you, slick." Tony Stark cut in. Both Beth and the Captain turned red at this, him giving a glare in Stark's direction.

"He's not- I mean, I don't- not that you aren't- but I'm not-"

"Careful not to rust there, Tin Man." Beth said under her breath, before she could rein the words in. Black Widow gave a small fit of laughter while the Captain pointed at her, giving a loud "Hah!"

Tony Stark's face fell from smug to a look of indignation as he turned to the director, "This one's a biter, Fury."

Director Fury in turn opened his mouth to speak-

_Oh God, why can't I watch myself, I'm so stupid, why did I-_

Another agent walks in.

"Sir, it's urgent." He begins to whisper into Fury's ear rapidly; all the while the tall man nods, an alarmed look creeping onto his face.

"Here?" he asks, incredulous.

Footsteps rang in the metallic room, and before long the source of them had arrived- Thor, god of thunder, and the final member of the Avengers group entered the room, bringing an air of seriousness with him.

"If I had brought him to any Midgardian leaders, they would have undoubtedly killed him." He looked to Fury with pleading eyes, yet at the same time holding an authoritative, commanding stance- he stood as a god asking for help.

Beth looked around the room, relieved to discover that everyone else was just as confused as her. Nobody understood why Thor was there or who he was speaking of; they were only hoping that he wasn't talking about who they suspected. After a few private words were exchanged between, the strong, long-haired man looked over at her, his glance shifting quickly from indifference to frank curiosity.

"Is this one new? Will she be fighting with us?" Thor asked, stepping closer to her. He looked her up and down, and a wave of panic shot through Beth. _No, no, no, stop it, don't say anymore, stop, please!_

"This is Lieutenant Beth Chednik, a new agent." Director Fury told him, puzzled by the intensity of his gaze.

"Only? I sense greater-"

"She will be involved in the maintenance, actions, and monitoring of all criminals held by S.H.E.I.L.D."

"Well then she must be in charge of him."

"And why is that?" Fury did not like his authority being challenged. Beth gave a tiny shake of her head, warning Thor not to go on. He didn't really catch the message.

"I see something hidden within her. She is the only 'agent' that will be capable of controlling him. I know my brother. Let me take her to his cell."

If it seemed like Fury didn't like his authority tested then, he now resigned to Thor's determination.

"Fine. Agent Chednik, forget reading the other files. I have your newest assignment."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hi everyone, thank you so much for reading. I'm really sorry about the megalate update, I've been swamped with college visits and summer assignments. Now that I'm free more often, I'll probably update every day or two. Enjoy, comments, suggestions, and reviews would be wonderful :)**

Beth followed Director Fury and Thor down the metallic corridor, glancing at her surroundings. Everywhere she looked were people in dark suits and heavy machinery. It looked as if S.H.E.I.L.D had the ability to blow up half the world. She herself was dressed in simple black pants and shirt. In front of her, Beth caught snippets of the two mens' conversation.

"-could turn him over to the United Nations, you have no right-"

"I had nowhere else; I knew you would treat him-"

"We meet again, Director." The three of them stopped, and Beth heard a light yet commanding voice address Fury in front of her. Her heart started beating faster.

_My first assignment and it's the man who tried to destroy the planet._

She took half a step back, keeping slightly closer to Thor. She could not yet see the man obscured by everyone else.

"Loki. I didn't think I'd have to see your face anywhere near Earth again anytime soon. No matter, you came at a good time. We have a new addition to the criminal department that we have decided would oversee your stay here."

A bark of laughter came from somewhere in front of her. "I see whoever he is, he is hiding behind my brother. Very authoritative start."

"Agent Chednik" Fury cut in, a hint of impatience in his voice. Who could blame him? This was Beth's first day on the job and she is cowering like a baby.

"It is alright, he cannot hurt you." Thor gave Beth an encouraging smile, and she straightened her back and put a cool face on, and stepped to face the God of Mischief. She calmly, patiently took him in. Loki gave off an air just as commanding as his voice did. He was much taller than she had anticipated, towering above many around him; he must have been at least six feet. His dark brown hair reached his shoulders and he gave her a mocking stare with his shining, green eyes.

...

_So they're handing me off to a woman. _Loki thought, _no matter, perhaps I can charm her into giving me whatever I desire._

He stood, taking her in just as she seemed to be to him. She wasn't very tall, reaching, at the tallest, his chin. She had light brown hair, waving and curling itself to just below her shoulders. Her face was freckled, and she had steely blue eyes. If she wasn't human he might even say she looked nice. He did sense something, however. She had a power. Not a superpower like Thor's cohorts, but a power like his and Thor's. It was noticeably weaker than theirs, but it was clear and present nonetheless. This one would be fun. Those blue eyes stared at him with false indifference. _Lies_. He could see the fear painted into her features.

"What are you afraid of, little one? Surely not me, a mere prince of Asgard." Loki cocked his eyebrows at her and gave a half-smile. He needed to see how easy it would be to toy with her.

"Not at all. I'm sure you'll find your cell quite suitable for a prince of _your _stature." Her eyes went from wary to indignant. Clearly she thought herself his equal.

His face straightened as he answered, "Clearly manners aren't a requirement for this organization." _This one may be difficult._

"Take him to the holding area." Director Fury instructed the guards.

...

Beth couldn't believe that she had been so flippant with a Norse god. She turned back to the two men she had come with as Loki was taken out. Thor was staring at her, a mix of curiosity and respect in his face.

"You have a grasp on how to handle him already. Good. Do not allow him to get inside of your mind. He saw something within you; he knows you would not be easy to control. Please do not be cruel to him, he is my brother. If you will be needing anything, do not hesitate to ask for my help."

"Agent Chednik, you already know who you will be working with. You will be required to check up on how things are going every few days; the rest will be taken care of by your staff. Your office has monitors on all sections of his cell. I'll check on you routinely. Dismissed."


	4. Chapter 4

A few hours had passed and Beth was still sitting on her bed, wondering what to do now.

_Do I go check up on him now? No, the others will be needing to settle him in, I'll go in an hour maybe. Should I tell mom? "Hey, I have Loki Odinson held in a cell, want to come say hi for old times' sake?" She'll be wondering how my first day is…_

"Hey" Beth broke out of her trance to see Agent Romanova standing in the doorway. "So I hear you have to deal with Loki?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Not sure how I'm handling that one." She smiled at the red-headed woman and beckoned her in.

"That sucks. At least he doesn't have his staff, and apparently they drained some of his magic."

"Did they? That's good." A pause followed; neither of them really knew what to say, and Beth was being her usual, awkward self. _You're never going to make friends if all you can do is insult people, stupid_.

Suddenly, the smile of an idea came over Black Widow's face. "Hey, we were just going to go out, Rogers hasn't been to a McDonald's since 1942, and Stark just loves giving him culture shock. Wanna come?"

Beth smiled back, relieved and a little surprised at how nice the famous spy was. "That would be great, thanks, Agent."

"Call me Natasha." The two walked out of Beth's room, into the sunlight outside. Beth was going out to lunch. With superheroes.

The bright sunlight hit them as they walked out into the street. Beth had to run back and change, and decided to keep her black shirt, only changing into a pair of denim shorts. She thought Natasha looked fabulous, as always, in her deep green, knee-length dress.

"Hello, ladies." Doctor Bruce Banner called over across a few tables. They walked over to him and Hawkeye and sat down, smiling.

"So where are the kids?" Natasha asked him, casually grabbing one of his fries.

"If you mean who I think you mean, Tony's showing Steve how automatic flushing works in the bathrooms." Clint Barton added, amusement showing on his face.

At this Beth let out a snort of laughter, quickly covering it up. _I don't know them that well, I shouldn't be too forward._

"You can laugh!" Natasha said, bemused.

"Oh, I know, I just don't-"

"No need to explain Ms. Chednik, I'm not too forward around people I don't know well myself." Dr. Banner smiled at her, "However, you really have nothing to worry about, we may be a strange bunch at first but we're awfully welcoming."

"Beth" she corrected, happy to know she was among friends.

"Stark, my God, what did you do to him?" at Natasha's comment, the others turned their heads to see Tony Stark looking pleased with himself walking along side a bewildered – and wet – Captain Rogers.

"Don't you look at me, Captain Curious over here wanted to take a closer look at the toilet censor. I don't know what exactly happened after that, but I ended up pulling his head out of there."

"Those are… dangerous…" The Captain gasped.

"You brought the new meat." Tony Stark plopped into his chair, taking a hamburger from across the table and nonchalantly stuffing it into his mouth.

"Can all of you please get your own food?" the quiet doctor impatiently asked.

"Why? What'll happen? You'll go green on me, Brucey?" Stark asked excitedly.

"Hello." Beth said, rather meekly. She wasn't often referred to as "meat".

"Don't scare her, Stark. We want to make friends." Natasha gave him a warning look.

"What? I'm charming. What happened to those claws, kitty? Can't think of any witty comments to make?"

"-Nice to see you again, Lieutenant." Captain Rogers cut in, giving a warm smile to Beth. Out of all of them, he seemed to be the most approachable.

"You as well, sir."

"Please, call me Steve."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Well call me Beth."

"That's a pretty name."

"-_Okay_, let's go get some food before I lose my appetite." Stark dropped Doctor Banner's hamburger to go get his own.

"I'll go too, it may seem crazy but I want a burger NOT bitten into by several different people." Banner added.

"You guys go, we'll stay here and watch the table." Clint threw in, quickly engaging in conversation with Natasha.

"Miss?" Steve stood, offering his slightly damp arm to Beth. Still smiling at him, she took it. _He really is old-fashioned. _

After ten long minutes of ordering food and trying to explain to Steve that chicken fingers didn't actually mean that chickens have fingers now, Beth was on a first-name basis with all three supermen.

"Hey, do those two have a thing?" Beth asked while they were getting ketchup and napkins, casually glancing at Natasha and Clint.

"We're not actually sure. It could go either way, honestly." Tony answered. "Heads up, Stevey here hasn't had flirting experience in like, 70 years, so forgive him for being awkward."

"Hey, shut up." Beth turned when she heard Steve speak; his cheeks flushed crimson and he look at Stark indigently.

"I haven't had a boyfriend since I was 19, I couldn't tell if someone was flirting with me if they held up a sign." Rolling her eyes at the two, she and Bruce led back to the table where Clint and Natasha were deep in conversation.

"Everything good, Cap?" Clint asked good-naturedly.

"Uh, yeah, I hope so." Not wanting to prove Tony right and get a plain hamburger, but not daring enough to try chicken fingers, Steve ordered himself the classic Big Mac. Everyone watched as he tentatively took a bite into it, chewing carefully, then finally nodding his approval with a full mouth. "This is great," he said after swallowing, "I wonder what's in it?"

"Well first-"

"-Don't." Bruce cut Tony off just as he was eagerly about to explain the horrors of the fast food industry. "He won't understand half the things you're saying, anyway." They shared a good laugh; Beth reveled in the feeling of having friends again until a thought hit her like a bolt of lightning to a tree. Her eyes got wide as she remembered what she was going to do.

"Shit, guys, I have to go check up on Loki."

**Author's Note: As you can see, I had oodles of fun with this one. To avoid any confusion, I will let you know ahead of time that a love triangle thing will be going on, but don't worry, we all know who'll be with who in the end ;D 3 Thank you so much for reading, comments/requests/reviews please!**


	5. Chapter 5

Loki paced along the floor of his chamber, observing his surroundings. It was different from his old one. It was large, much larger than his old one, and only had one glass wall; the others were some kind of metal- steel, probably. There was a bed on one corner and a toilet and sink in another. He had a television as well. _As if I would be interested in the rubbish these humans call entertainment_.

He had attempted twice to create a duplicate of himself and transport himself outside the cell, but it failed to work; the duplicate weakly fluttered in front of him before disappearing a minute later. With a sigh, he sat down on the bed.

_What, do they mean to bore me to death?_

With nothing else to think about, Loki allowed his thoughts to be occupied by the woman who would be his jailor. It had been four hours since they brought him here, shouldn't she have come down by now? She was most likely frightened.

_But what was that about her? What…power does she have?_

If he didn't know any better he would have thought she was a new heroic addition to his brother's group. Why is she merely a part of the staff? _Maybe they don't know_. A smile crossed the god's face at the thought. Maybe that was something he could hold over her. She didn't seem like she wanted anyone knowing. But what _was _it? He was almost certain she wasn't a part of the planet naturally, at least not completely. The power he sensed was not as great as his or Thor's, but it was there nonetheless. His curiosity peaked, Loki set himself on finding out exactly what the brown-haired girl was hiding.

Almost as if she heard him, she suddenly appeared, out of breath, before his room.

"I was beginning to think you forgot I was here." Loki said lightly, looking her over. Despite himself he noticed that she looked better than she did earlier; she was wearing makeup, causing her blue eyes to pop out noticeably. She also exchanged the black pants she was wearing for a nice pair of hip-hugging shorts. "Nice legs." He added.

The girl looked down at herself and looked back up at him. Loki was pleased to see her face red with embarrassment.

"Running about town, my dear?"

"Certainly more than you have." She answered tersely. _Insolent women, if she dares speak to me that way then I don't need to play at courtesy with her._

A pause followed, in which they paced parallel to each other like lions from enemy prides. Suddenly, Loki stopped and uttered softly, "You are aware, of course, that you are in this position because I killed the last man who was." She looked at him, a fleeting expression of shock crossing her face.

"Well I know that won't happen to me."

"How? What do you have against me, human?"

"I'm on this side, you're on that one. There is eight inches of Gorilla Glass separating us, not to mention countless feet of titanium. I have five years of martial arts and military training that I am completely willing to use on a powerless former-god. And if you do manage to escape, there are five people just a few flights up who are more than willing to put you in your place a second time." He was slightly impressed and annoyed at her ability to feign ferocity. His Asgardian powers may have been taken away but he was still able to see right through people, and she was building a large wall between him and her fear.

"And why is it that you are down here conversing with me and not 'fighting crime' with the other do-gooders?"

"I'm not-"

"And _I'm _not stupid, girl, so don't waste your time lying about powers I am all but certain you have."

Just then, another agent walked in with a tray of food.

"It's time for your dinner. I'll be back to check on you tomorrow." And with that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room quickly. Loki smirked to himself as the nameless person put his less-than-appetizing food through a slot into his room.

_This one will be hard to crack. No matter, I'll get her secret eventually. _

To an untrained eye Loki would have looked the fool, as she clearly had no idea what he was talking about. He knew, however. He saw the look of alarm cross her face when she knew that he knew. He was certain now, that she had a secret. Loki couldn't wait for her next visit.

As he sat down to a watery brown soup that might have been beef, it occurred to him that he should ask her what her name is.

…...

Beth ran up to her room and shut the door behind her, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest.

_He knows. What is he going to do? Will he get it out of her? Will he tell someone?_

She had remembered earlier that same day when Thor had made the same observation.

_"Will she be fighting with us?"_

She took a deep breath and laid back on her bed, thinking to herself. The only thing she could hope for now is that nobody finds out anything about her. That couldn't happen again.


	6. Chapter 6

Three days later Beth was sitting in her office, chewing on a pen cap while skimming through her files. They included details of secret organizations and people who she was certain the government didn't even know about; yet here she was, reading information on them and what the Avengers had done to make sure that all people are safe. Every now and then she would take a look at her monitors, making sure Loki was in check. They were mostly all in the office, but she did have one in her room for emergencies. Sometimes she would catch his eyes staring directly at one of the cameras. She couldn't look away; it was as if he knew she was staring at him, and he was staring right back. These trances could last up to five minutes; usually he would turn away as if it were nothing and resume his pacing and feeble attempts at magic and Beth would catch herself.

The visits to Loki had been short. He would greet Beth in his own way and she would inspect his cell, avoiding eye contact and always maintaining a careful, calm face. He had only asked her one other question since their first encounter: her name.

It was Beth's second day on the job and she had gone at noon to see how everything was.

"Hello, sunshine." Beth raised her eyebrows at being addressed as such, and then looked down again to inspect the walls.

"What, you don't like being called sunshine? I had always thought it was a compliment to you humans. What should I call you, then?"

Beth's voice was as cool as her expression. "You may address me as Agent Chednik. Lieutenant, if you'd prefer."

"Oh, is that the relationship we're going to have? Come now, you know me by my first name."

"I know you as Prisoner AX4B."

"That's a larger mouthful than Loki, I think."

"What do you want?" It was only her second day and she was already beginning to get irritable with the prankster. _This isn't good. _

"Merely to be able to put a name to the face, I think I at least deserve to know who my captor is."

With a sigh, Beth told him her full name. "Elizabeth Yrian Chednik."

"But you don't like to be called all that, do you?"

"Beth."

"Beth... what an _Earthy _name."

"Yes…"

"But Yrian. I knew someone named Yrian_ar _once. Some royalty from another planet I had to meet as a child. You wouldn't happen to know anyone by that name, would you?"

"That would be impossible."

Finishing her inspection, Beth stalked out of the room, feeling Loki's triumphant green eyes following her. Could he really piece things together that quickly?

"Hey there."

Beth snapped suddenly out of her flashback and turned to the open door. It was Steve.

"Oh, uh, hi, what do you need?" Beth hoped sincerely that he didn't see the drool-covered pen fall out of her mouth and onto the floor. He probably did.

"Just stopping by to say hi. You haven't really been around these past couple of days." It was true; Beth had spent her first few days reviewing everything in the S.H.E.I.L.D documents and getting used to her surroundings.

"Yeah, I've been trying to catch up on things around here. It's crazy." They laughed the uncomfortable laugh of close acquaintances.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

_Yes. The man I am watching is a maniac who is a few steps away from finding out my life's biggest secret, I think I am entering some kind of weird Clarice-Hannibal relationship with him, he killed the last person in my position and would have no qualms doing it to me, and to top it all off a hot guy just walked into my office only to catch me daydreaming and sucking on a pen cap like a two year old._

"No, I think I'll be fine. Thanks for the offer, though. I really appreciate it. Everyone has been so welcoming."

"I'm glad you're settling in well…. Say, Clint was talking about getting people together to go out to some gin mill tonight, it's going to be a ball. Would you like to come with me?"

"A gin mill? With you?"

"I meant bar- no, shoot, us, I meant us. Y'know I just meant since I just invited you and all, but it's all a group, not _me_… but I'll be there too, I mean-"

Beth giggled at the brawny, befuddled man. "Sure, sounds great."

"Oh, really? Okay, swell, I know where it is so I'll take you down. I'll meet you by your place at 8? You have a room here like us, right?"

"Great, yes I'm floor B3, apartment 11." One convenient thing about working at S.H.E.I.L.D was that high enough agents weren't completely trusted with the information they had, so they were all made to live within the facility. Each "apartment" had a small bedroom, big enough for a full-sized bed and room to climb into it, a small sitting room in which Beth had a couch and television, and a kitchen. Her pay may have been shit but hey, at least there was no rent.

"Alright! You look very pretty today, by the way." Steve smiled and walked away, presumably to his own business. Beth watched him go, thinking to herself.

_Beth Chednik, did you almost just get asked out? By an 80 year old superhero, nonetheless?_

With a vague suspicion that the Captain may have a small crush, Beth wondered with grim amusement if he would think she was pretty in her natural form. Oh well. She pushed the thought out of her head and turned to the clock. 5:30. She would be needing to go get ready in a couple of hours.

…...

Loki was trying to push down another questionably filled sandwich with slightly stale bread, chasing it down with sink water.

_I am a God. This is how I am treated for trying to bring balance to the humans through rule._

At least he now knew the girl's name. Beth Yrian. Yrian. Loki was only a boy at the time but he had remembered meeting visiting royalty from another planet. The king's name was Yrianar. He could not recall much of what they looked like aside from a distinctly yellowish skin, nor could he recall the name of the planet. All he knew was that this Beth Yrian did not look like them. A disguise, maybe.

After only three or four days, Loki had discovered a few ways to amuse himself. Through his immense boredom, he had ended up looking through the channels on the screen in front of him. There was one show he had particularly liked which involved several humans on an island, attempting to survive the wild. He liked the idea of their suffering. And also, he discovered that every few days they would turn against one of their own and oust them, he assumed to death. The trials they went through were amusing, yet he was confused at the fact that none of them had ever seemed to have fallen to illness or starvation. Perhaps this was too violent for these mere humans.

The other way he had found to amuse himself was a bit more… interesting. Though he could not teleport himself to other places, he found that he could see some. In this case, Loki could control the little black boxes the girl used to watch him. He discovered that he was able to watch her back through them. Sometimes her eyes would go hazy and she would stare at him for minutes at a time; Loki understood- he was a handsome man, it was hard not to. It wasn't particularly fun to watch her in her office, she was always either reading or writing something. In her room he could see what her life was really like; he saw her worry, eat, and if he got lucky, undress.

Almost on cue, he sensed her stare. He turned to the nearest camera to discover she had just entered her room. She was dressed rather nicely in a figure-flattering light blue dress that fell just above her knees. Her hair was up in a bun, a few curls falling around her face. She was putting makeup on her face. _She doesn't need to cover her face that much. She's not terribly-_

He stopped himself before he could finish the thought. There was a knock on her door, and she flattened her dress and ran over to answer.

It was Captain America. He had exchanged his blue starred suit for a light brown jacket with a tan button-down shirt and blue tie.

_So she is being courted by this brawny imbecile. It makes sense, she would be able to outsmart any questions he asks should he get suspicious as well._

"Ready?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes, yes, let me just go grab my purse!" She ran back to her couch and picked up a white bag and took one last look at her monitor. Loki stared back and their eyes met; she paused and the same look of confusion crossed her face as other times she had caught him staring. The whole moment lasted barely a second before her door was shut and Loki turned on the television, hoping to find another episode of his favorite program.

**_Author's Note:__ Sorry about how long this one took guys, I was on vacation :( I hope you like it though, reviews, comments, or suggestions, please!_**


	7. Chapter 7

The night after the bar, Beth was again not sitting around in her room. That afternoon, she was getting herself a cup of coffee while on her break when Natasha approached her.

"So what's your deal?"

"What?"

"You and Steve. You went to the bar together, you talked nonstop… what's going on?"

Beth was taken aback by her friend's bluntness. "He's really nice and keeps talking to me. We're friends."

"Uh-huh."

"Well… what about you and Clint? What's happening there?"

"Why don't we have a girls' night and just talk? My place. Ten."

And so there they were, sipping wine on Natasha's couch while the television created noise in the background. Natasha had asked again what was between her and Steve, and Beth relayed in detail every single thing that had passed between them.

"Oh. Well, I still think he's crushing on you." Natasha gave Beth an inquisitive stare after stating her view, to which Beth shrugged. Natasha persisted: "Well if he _was_, what would you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"If he asked you out. What would you do?"

"Well… I would definitely consider it, but I just have so many other things."

"Like what?"

"Like Loki for example-"

"You have a thing with _Loki_?"

"No! I mean he's just… tricky. I mean, besides the God of Mischief stuff. He always asks me these questions, and sometime when I'm looking through the monitors, I'm almost positive he's staring back at me."

"Don't let him get to you. He's just an ass who has fun hurting other people."

"I know. Sooo it's your turn. You and Clint. What's the deal?"

Natasha made Beth swear not to tell anyone before she continued. She then told Beth a story from her assassin days, revealing that she had met Hawkeye previously, on a mission to seduce and kill him. He had actually fallen for her and she had a temporary burst of insanity, in which she revealed everything to him. Stunned but forgiving, he convinced her to come back to S.H.E.I.L.D with him and helped her get away from the organization she was working for, turning her into the agent she is today.

"And we've been best friends ever since." She finished. "There are times though… small ones where we'll really be connecting, when I wish we were more. But I just don't know if that could happen."

A moment of silence passed between them both; it was not one of the awkward silences that Beth was so adept at creating. It was a silence filled with friendship and empathy, each telling the other that she had her back.

"I feel bad for him sometimes." Beth said suddenly.

"Who?"

"Loki. No, don't look at me like that, I know he's a bad guy, but is he really evil? He's just different. He's alone. I know what that feels like."

"We all do."

_No, I don't think you do. _"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Why don't you try and make friends with him or something then?" Natasha teased.

_I would if he wasn't such a damn sneak trying to figure out my secret._ "Hah. Yeah."

The second silence was broken by Beth's cell phone vibrating. As coincidence happens, it was one of the agents supervising Loki at the moment.

"Beth Chednik." She answered in her most authoritative voice.

"Agent Chednik, we have a problem here."

Beth grew alarmed. "What is it? Is it something with Loki?"

"Yes. He's been vomiting into the toilet periodically for over half an hour, and I'm supposed to call you before I send for a doctor-"

"-Don't do anything, I'll be right there."

"What is it?" Natasha asked, confused.

"Loki. Apparently he's throwing up like nobody's business. I have to go see what's up." Without another word, Beth bolted out of the room.

_Why am I running to help him? This is my prisoner, this is the man who tries to give me a mental breakdown every single time I try and do my job. This is my job. I'm just doing my job._

Beth cursed herself for the unknown impulse that made her rush to Loki's aid.


	8. Chapter 8

When she finally reached the floor with his cell, she did not even need to ask where Loki was; the retching could be heard from as soon as she stepped out of the elevator. Beth walked over to the glass and saw the god clutching his stomach, doubled over the toilet. When he wasn't spewing vomit, he was coughing into the toilet. His face was contorted in pain and his normally pale features were ashen. She stepped carefully into his cell and saw his whole body shaking.

As soon as Beth stepped in close to him, Loki collapsed on the ground at her feet, still shaking but apparently unable to throw up anymore. His eyes were filled with pain as he looked up at her, a weak, angry look quickly entering his features.

"L-leave me ins-s-solent-"

"Calm down." Beth said, and promptly made him grow still and fall asleep. With his features calm, she let herself notice how handsome he really was. A wave of pity seized her. This man was the adopted brother of Thor. He was always overshadowed, different. He needed someone to pay attention to him, that was all. He just needed… a friend.

…

Loki woke up, feeling weak but void of the intense pain that had seized him the day before. He had never felt that way before, it was what was known to humans as 'getting sick'.

_It was probably that miserable excuse for food they kept giving me._

He recalled the moments before he fell asleep. The girl was standing there, pitying him like a baby. Loki Odinson was no helpless baby. He could take a little bit of pain, the stupid wench. She was probably mocking him to her precious patriotic superhero as he was laying there.

However, as he gently raised himself onto his elbows and looked around, he realized that it wasn't true; there she was, on a chair only a few feet away from him- asleep. He almost wanted to laugh; there she was, hunched over with her head slightly lolling to the side, brown curls falling over her face. She might have been at the sickbed of a friend or relative.

Slowly and unsteadily, Loki braced himself against the bed and got up. He discovered the pain was gone; the only thing left was a weakness and faint dizziness. The tall man stood in front of her, looking down, wondering what to do with the girl.

_Look at her. So weak. So vulnerable. So… sweet._

He could not deny in his state that she did have some attractive charm to her. Why was she herein the first place? Surely she could have let someone else handle it. It became clear to Loki that whatever else she had, her biggest weakness was that she could not turn away anybody in need. That did not, however, take away the fact that she was annoying and insolent, not to mention sneaky.

"Huh… wha…" She woke with a start. She jumped a little bit when she looked up and saw him gazing at her- not even he knew how intensely he was looking at the girl.

"Beth Yrian." He greeted.

"Loki."

"Tsk tsk- falling asleep in my chambers? Unattended? I think you know better than to trust me that much. Worse yet, someone might think we were lovers, tragically thrown into the rolls of prisoner and jailor-"

"You were sick. It's my job to make sure no harm comes to you."

"Yet… you let them feed me that slop that churned my stomach in the first place."

"That isn't my say."

"Of course not." Loki paced around her chair like a predator about to strike. He stopped right behind her, still looking down. "Nobody has ever slept in my room to make sure I was alright before, you know."

"Have you ever been sick before?"

"Well, no."

"There you go."

"Regardless, Elizabeth Yrian, it is rather- touching- that you stayed here. Though you should know, I would have been fine without you."

She gave a bark of laughter. "Would you? Really? You were pale as a ghost throwing your insides up, I just-"

"Tell me, my dear, what would that star spangled suitor of yours say about us?"

"Who? What? What us?"

"Steven Rogers, I believe his name is. I wonder what he would say about our conversations- though I doubt he had the brain power to even follow half of my sentences. We might be speaking too fast for him."

"Shut up" she threw in.

_Aha. I see someone beginning to lose her temper._

"How was that date of yours, child? You looked quite fashionable in that dress-"

"Enough." She slammed her hands on the sides of the chair and was just about to storm out. Loki realized at that moment that this would be his best chance to talk to her, to unravel her mysteries. He took it.

"Wait."

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to thank you for your assistance. And also to ask for one other thing."

It was clear on her face that she was taken aback by his sudden change of attitude. He never lost his mocking tone, but she could tell that he was serious now.

"It gets awfully boring here. Would you stay and talk to me?"

…..

_No. No. NO. Don't do it. This is bad. _

Beth listened to something else for once. It wasn't her brain, but she wasn't sure what it really was, either. She just felt its strength and went with her impulse.

"Fine. What about?"

"Well, you see, I want to play a game. I'll ask you a question and you have to answer truthfully, and vice versa. You have the opportunity to pass twice. It's rather fun, I think you may enjoy it."

The impulse hit her on the head again, beating her mind and common sense into submission. "Deal." Beth again felt like Clarice Starling, her heart beating in her throat as she stared into the eyes of her mad Hannibal Lecter.


	9. Chapter 9

"Have a seat. You go first, sunshine. "Loki lounged on his bed, casual folding his hands on his chest like a patient in a psychologist's office. Beth, meanwhile, sat stiffly on the plastic fold out chair by Loki's bed.

_What have you gotten yourself into, Beth?_

After scraping her mind for the most harmless thing she could find, Beth asked carefully, "What's your favorite color?"

Loki gave her a half-smile, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Green. Not a forest or light green, but a rich, emerald green. Fit for royalty. My turn. Where were you born?"

"Queens."

"And have you ever left-"

"-I believe it's _my _turn." Beth cut in. She would have none of Loki's mind games here. "Why did you kill the man who was in this position before me?"

"Because he got in my way. Why did you join this organization?"

"Safety. A good job. It interested me." Beth checked her watch; it was four in the morning. Someone would be down in two hours to start the watch and bring Loki's breakfast. She would need to be gone by then. "Would you kill me?"

At this Loki's eyes shot up, the amusement in his green eyes had changed to… to…

_Why is he looking at me like that?_

They seemed to reflect a mixture of doubt, apprehension, defiance and… was it fear? Alarm? Clearly he didn't expect this.

"Pass." Was all he said. A moment passed between them in which Beth and Loki tried to read each other. They were taken aback- he at her question and she at his response.

Finally, after a while, Beth broke the silence; "Is it my turn-"

"-What do you see in this Captain America?"

"Well… he's good looking, sensitive, kind-"

"-And not near intelligent enough to question your odd middle name or anything about your secrets. If he were, you would no doubt find a way to avoid the questions."

Beth ignored his comment, and to her dismay she saw the smugness returning to his eyes. "Who was your first kiss?"

"I've had so many, give me a moment and let me remember… let's see, it was a kitchen girl. Thor and I were playing a game and he dared me to kiss the first girl I saw. She was coming to bring us tea."

"I wonder, has a girl who _wasn't_ commanded to, ever kissed you? Oh well, your turn." Beth said smugly.

"If you'll notice, Beth Yrian, I have not directly insulted you since one of our first encounters. I do not think cordial relations can continue between us unless you extend the same courtesy."

Loki had said this all so quickly and coldly that Beth's cheeks flushed and she actually felt ashamed of herself.

_This fucking defense mechanism. He needs a friend; this is the kind of friend I try to give?_

"Now," he continued, clearly taking her silent sheepishness as agreement, "What is the origin of your middle name?"

_And it begins._

"Pass." She said. "Do you love Thor?"

"He is my brother."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes. Very much. You seem to not have many friends outside of here. Why is that?"

Beth held her breath as memories flooded in. "I used to before they got frightened and left."

"And that is why you joined the military. You thought that you could help people and win their trust by fighting for their freedom. But it didn't work, did it? That's why you came here. You're comfortable with my brother and his friends because they're different, too."

"Do you care about anyone besides yourself?" Beth spat.

_What is he doing? How can he piece my life together with one question?_

Loki looked like he was thinking hard on it. Finally, he looked at her and said the one word she did not expect: "Pass."

"Really?" Beth asked, taken aback.

"What do you really look like? Beneath that brown hair and those pretty blue eyes?"

Beth knew this was coming, and she knew that she had no way out.

"Pass." She said, not taking her eyes off of him.

_Pretty?_

"You… think my eyes are pretty?"

"They are a nice color, yes." Loki answered quickly with the air of a businessman. "My turn."

_Shit, he's good._

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"No."

"I knew you were a smart girl."

"Have you ever had a real, true friend?"

After a pause, Loki avoided her eyes and answered, "No."

"Would you like one?"

Loki ignored her second question. "Why are you playing this game with me?"

"Because you're lonely."

"How dare you presume-"

"And so am I. I thought you could use a friend."

Loki let his surprise show as his eyes widened and his mouth gaped a bit. Beth looked at him apprehensively.

"You said we had to tell the truth." She said quietly. "It's 5:45, they'll be here soon, I need to get going."

As she started getting up, Loki asked, "Why did you come? Why did you not send for a healer?"

"I needed to make sure you were going to be okay?"

"Needed to? Or wanted to?"

Beth looked back over her shoulder. Loki sat on his bed staring at her, a guarded curiosity etched onto his features.

_Maybe he just needs someone to pay attention to him._

"Pass." She said with a small smile, exiting the cell and walking up the corridor back to her room.

"And I will eat no more of that miserable excuse for food you humans keep forcing upon me!" he called after her.

_Maybe he's not evil after all._

…..

Loki watched the girl go, trying to make sense of his past two hours. Nobody had ever sat by him all night, nor had anyone ever devoted this much attention to him.

_What is she playing at? She couldn't possibly just care about me. What's in it for her?_

No doubt she would be wondering why he never asked about her powers; he could have, but Loki decided that he could find out through more… exciting means. But she had caught him completely off guard a few times.

_"Would you kill me?"_

The words still echoed in his head; he still wondered, _could I? _Could he really kill her? A few days ago he would have no hesitation should she have gotten in his way. He would make a spectacle of it, as well. But now… after she had sat with him, talked, no, really _spoke _to him… if it came to it, could he kill this girl?

_Argh! What is she doing to me? This isn't good. I must never care for a mere human, even if it is just through friendship._

_Wait._

He was certain she wasn't human. What would he do then? Would he allow her to try and be his friend? Would he be hers?

Loki's head was beginning to hurt. He looked down on the tray placed in front of him; fresh porridge, fresh toast, even a fresh orange… she had something to do with this? Beth Yrian. Beth.

_She just doesn't want me vomiting again. It doesn't look good for her. _

Regardless, Loki thought it was comparably good to the slop he usually got. He would need to remind himself to thank her later.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Author's Note: __Thank you sooo much for all of the reviews, they're so encouraging, guys. I love them. This chapter's pretty long, and after the next one there'll be some time jumps. Thank you for sticking with the story and all of your reviews again! I look forward to reading more!_**

"Are you alright?" a concerned Steve asked when Beth appeared at her office door, barely an hour after her and Loki's little game. When she had finally entered her apartment and looked into the mirror, Beth saw how tired she really was. Her eyes were shadowed with dark spots, and her hair was sticking out in all directions.

_Great. I just had a full on mental shakedown, of course he's here. Why can't he just see me when I'm normal?_

"Oh, yeah, I just had… long night."

"Well you can tell me all about it when- wait, I forgot to ask you first, oh, stupid, sorry…"

"Steve, I'm way too tired to deal-"

"-Would you like to go out with me tonight?"

Beth was completely caught off guard. She stared at him, wondering if it was a joke. It had to be a joke. Yet one look at his hopeful and slightly nervous blue eyes convinced her otherwise.

"I'd really like that."

His face lit up. "No fooling? Okay, swell, I'll pick you up at eight. See you then!"

_Wow. I have a date with Captain America. There are thousands of kids in this world who have trading cards and action figures of him. And I'm dating him._

When the door shut to her office, Beth let out a small squeal and jumped into her chair. Beth hadn't had a date since she was nineteen years old… she still remembered everything that night…

Beth was walking down the street with a boy named Will; it was nighttime after classes, and Will had asked her to dinner. After a nice meal at a long-forgotten Italian bistro, they were comfortably making their way back to the campus.

"What was that?" They stopped short and Beth listened again.

_Is there someone in that alley?_

She was sure she heard some scuffle going on.

"It's probably just people walking home or something, relax, babe." Will smiled his crooked smile at Beth, grabbing her hand reassuringly. She sighed and they kept going.

They were a few steps past the alley when someone grabbed Beth by the neck.

"Hand over everything you got and nobody gets hurt, kids." He smelled like onions and tobacco.

Beth looked out of the corner of her eye and saw another man hold Will by the mouth. She felt as though her heart was going to burst out of her chest. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate; the man holding her let go with a shriek. His hand was quickly shriveling before his eyes like a juiced orange. Soon his shrieks were silenced when he fell to the ground, unconscious. The second man saw his fallen partner and quickly let go of Will; before he could act, he was bent backwards like a grotesque slinky, raised high off of his feet, and thrown back into the alley from where a soft 'thud' told Beth that he must have landed on trash bags or some other soft object. She turned around and smiled modestly at Will.

_I hope he won't make a big deal, but I wonder if he'll thank me with a kiss?_

He gaped at her, his eyes like a petrified deer in headlights.

_Or maybe he won't._

"What the fuck are you!" he shouted. Beth's heart went from bursting to sinking. She looked down at her now yellow-tinged skin. She touched a strand of her hair to see what it looked like.

_Shit._

"Listen, it really isn't what it looks like-" She reached out to him pleadingly.

"Don't touch me, you freak!" and with those parting words, he ran. Beth sank to the ground, unable to see with the tears clouding her eyes. Within a few minutes, she was able to calm herself down enough to return to normal and make her way home. The next day, she read about two men found dead in the street a few blocks from her dorm. Her friends had stopped talking to her. Will never called her again.

She had been terrified to get close to anyone since then. Until now. Beth's thoughts turned to Loki. She didn't like him. She didn't trust him. But she did find some comfort in the fact that he must know how she feels. According to his files, Loki had previously tried to rule his home of Asgard by allowing another alien species called Frost Giants into the kingdom. The files also read that he himself was a Frost Giant. She wasn't sure why he didn't look big or blue, or why he lived in Asgard, but he _must_ have felt something. She wondered if that was the reason he was here in the first place. Maybe he just needs someone to understand.

_And I also have Steve._

Beth had forgotten. But _could _she trust him? She knew he was different as well, he was out of his time, literally. Somehow, she thought that the 40s mindset wouldn't help him understand.

_But he's so sweet and handsome and caring._

When she was with him, Beth loved every moment of it. But her thoughts were wandering to Loki far too often for her comfort. She didn't like him in that way, not at all. But he confounded her.

Looking into the camera and seeing Loki staring back reminded her of her work. She would need to check up on him soon.

…..

_Something seems to be the matter. What's wrong, sunshine, sick of your dim-witted boyfriend?_

Loki had been paying attention to the camera. She seemed to be reminiscing about something, something troublesome. Her face was distressed and regretful. To Loki's surprise, his usual amusement had a touch of concern. He didn't care about her of course, she was just necessary. It was clear that he was going to be here for quite a while, his stay needed to be bearable. Loki was more curious now than ever as to Beth's life. How did she make him fall asleep last night? What did she DO to him? He had the strongest urge to get her to trust him somehow; it was clear that she didn't trust anybody. Some trauma, perhaps.

_I just thought of Beth Yrian as just Beth. What is this girl doing to me? The game was a bad idea. _

"Brother, I have missed you!"

_Damn it all, please don't be-_

"Hello, Thor." Loki said coolly, seeing his adoptive brother in his room, smiling ear to ear.

_Well, at least one of us is happy to see his brother. Idiot._

Thor went up to his brother and hugged him tightly; Loki weakly patted him on the back.

"I trust you have been treated fairly?"

"Fairly enough, I suppose. Do you bring news? Will father allow me back?" Loki dared not hope, but he really was sick of these mortals and their stupid ways.

Thor stared sheepishly at him. "Well… erm… no, that is, I have tried to sway him, really brother, I have tried, but you know father. Soon though, I am sure of it."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I have missed you and wanted to see how you were doing!"

"Is Jane too busy?"

"She's at work, but that is beside the point. I will be visiting her shortly. How is that woman treating you? I had suggested her specifically, there is something about her-"

"-_You _chose her?" Loki wasn't sure whether to thank his brother or punch him. He decided not to do anything.

"Yes! I sensed something within her-"

"I sense it, too. Who was that king? Yrianar? Where were his people from?"

"Who?"

"The funny looking yellow man who came to visit father when we were young." Thor did not notice Loki roll his eyes at his sudden look of recognition.

"Oh, yes! I'm afraid I don't remember… I can ask father and let you know."

"No, it's fine. I prefer to find out myself."

"Find what out? That girl looks nothing like them!"

"Of course not, you dolt."

"What?"

"Nothing, brother."

"Well then. You let me know if there is anything I can do. I must go see- Hello, Agent Chednik!"

Loki turned to the direction his brother was waving to see her walking towards his room; he could also see that she was completely taken aback to see Thor.

"Oh, um, hello, I wasn't expecting, I was just checking-"

"-Checking on me. Thank you, sunshine." Loki put in.

"It's my job, prisoner." She put in, irritated. She clearly wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"My brother tells me everything has been going well! Also, I have heard good things from the others. Thank you for your excellent service, Agent."

The girl turned red at this. Modesty was apparently not one of her smallest traits.

"Please, call me Beth. Natasha and everyone else do, too."

"What a lovely name. I have also heard you and Steven-"

"-how the hell does everything get around so fast!"

"You came here to check on me, Beth Yrian." Loki did not like being ignored.

_Why is she acting so cordial with Thor? She was rough with me right from the start- oh, right, prisoner._

"Right, right, sorry, uh, sir-"

"-Thor"

"Thor. I really do have to get back to work; I promise that I'm doing my best."

"Thank you very much. I will be upstairs; I would just like a small word with you when you get the chance."

"Of course. See you!"

As Thor walked away, she got down to her usual business of checking the walls.

"I see you and my brother are hitting it off." Loki remarked, somewhat jealously.

"Well he knows how to be nice to people."

"A quality both of us need to work on, I'd say." He saw her give a small smile. "So what were you thinking about in your office? You looked dreadfully troubled, did I frighten you, child?"

Her head shot up, surprised. "How did you- can you see me?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

"Well then nor do I."

He gave a small 'hmph' and sat down. Suddenly, Loki remembered his breakfast as well as the fresh-tasting meat he had on not-stale bread for lunch.

"I know that you're the reason that my food hasn't been completely foul. Thank you for treating me with at least some humane decency."

A smile broke over her features. "You're welcome." She said, pleasantly surprised.

_It's not hard to please her, is it?_

After fifteen minutes, Loki heard a quiet 'hey'. He looked up from his television to see her, somewhat pressed up against the glass. She was wearing the same troubled look that she had in her office. He walked up close to the glass, looking down into her worried blue eyes. When she wasn't being defiant, she looked rather small.

"Yes, Beth?"

"How did people react when they found out you were a Frost Giant? Do you feel… different?"

Loki stepped back, shocked by her question. Shocked by her nervousness. Shocked by her confidence in him.

"Why are you asking this? Are you different, Beth Yrian? Are people _afraid _of you? Fascinated?"

She took a step back this time, some measure of defiance returning. "I can't. I can't."

"Well then, my dear, I cannot trust you unless you trust me." He opened his hands to show there was nothing he could do.

_She wants all of her problems solved but won't let anyone in. Well, I WAS prying quite hard into her life. Why should I tell her anything? It's hard for me, too._

She sighed, defeated, stubborn, and frustrated. "Fine. You're right. But I have to go. I'll be back later."

"Do let me know how the date goes, Bethy."

"Hey- no- it's none of your- don't call me that!"

Loki smiled his smug smile, sitting on his couch. It was nice to be the God of Mischief. Deep emotions were too tiring.


	11. Chapter 11

"I'm having a really nice time, Steve." Beth said, taking a small sip of her iced tea and looked into the blue eyes of the super soldier. He had taken her to a small Italian place a few blocks from Stark Tower; it was refreshing to relax with Steve after her day.

"I am too, thanks for coming." He flashed a white smile at her, retaining the always-modest look in his eyes that she found charming. "So what happened this morning?"

"Oh, well Loki wasn't feeling well, I had to go check up on him, then I fell asleep-"

"_In _Loki's cell?"

"-Yeah, and he woke me up." Beth briefly considered telling Steve about her full night with Loki, but decided that it was for the best he didn't know.

_I don't think Loki would want me telling anyone about anything we said._

Steve put his hands on the table, standing up and saying with sudden concern, "Are you okay? Did he do anything? Did he hurt you? Just tell me and I'll-"

"No! Steve, no, he didn't. He talked to me a little bit and I left. He's just lonely."

"Sure, yeah, I know lots of lonely people going on homicidal rampages."

"Don't worry about me!"

"I _am _worried! I really like you, I care about your safety!"

Beth was thrown back by his outburst, but responded honestly, "I really like you too." The lighting in the restaurant was just bright enough for Beth to see Steve's cheeks redden, and she smiled. She really did like him, though she felt a twinge of guilt; part of the reason she said that was to get off of the topic of Loki. She knew that if she continued she would likely say something stupid in Loki's defense and ruin everything, or worse, she'd get angry at him. Luckily, the conversation moved on and he was soon telling her all about his feats in Germany during the war, and Beth was eagerly listening; likewise, she told Steve about her experience in the army and all of the advances that were made since his time. All thoughts of Loki were forgotten. Before they knew it, it was near midnight and they were walking back to headquarters.

"So, would you want to do that again? Go on another date, I mean?" Steve asked, outside Beth's room.

"I would love to!" she replied.

"Wonderful! Well, thanks for a great night, Beth. A gentleman never kisses a lady on the first date, but I hope this doesn't count." And he took her hand in his, and planted a kiss on her fingers.

"Goodnight, Captain America." She smiled, pushing open her door.

"G'night, ma'am."

Beth checked her clock; it was 1 in the morning.

_Loki's probably . Why do I care?_

She just had a date with one of the best looking men she's ever seen, and now her thoughts go right back to Loki? This job was really getting to her. She let her thoughts wander to the conversation she had with Thor.

_"How is he faring? Is he much trouble?" Thor asked. Beth thought it was sweet how worried he was._

_"He's not bad, despite a small problem last night everything's been stable."_

_"What? What happened?" seeing Thor's concerned face made Beth recall most of last night's events. He was Loki's older brother, after all. He deserved to know. Through the whole story, he retained a look of deep concentration, and after a pause, he replied, "He's always had a weak stomach, ever since we were children. And this Earth food, what with the poor quality you must give to your prisoners… it makes perfect sense. Thank you for bettering it, it's quite kind of you. As for that game of his, it too is familiar to me. He always played it when he had a secret he wanted to find out or tell to someone. I don't know what it is about you, but you seem to intrigue him. I only ask you to treat him fairly, please, and don't think him evil. He is only lost. If it is not asking too much of you, I know that you can help him find himself. I only want the best for my little brother."_

Beth knew at that moment that she was in for more than just another government job with a crappy salary.

Despite herself, she looked into her monitor.

There he was.

Awake.

Loki was sitting on his bed, watching what looked like an episode of Survivor. That only lasted a minute, however; she looked again to see that he was turned to her, and his face broke into his signature grin as he gave a little wave to the camera.

_What the hell? Now I'm positive he can see me._

Suddenly sapped of all of her fatigue, Beth became curious to get down to the bottom of this.

_Looks like another late night Loki trip._

* * *

**_Author's Note: __Sorry that this one's kinda short, it's 3 in the morning and I'm fighting a battle to stay awake. No fear, there will be another chapter (hopefully) within the next 12 hours. Also, I have a question: should I give the chapters names, or is it okay if they stay the way they are? I can name them, whatever's best for my readers! Again, thank you so much for reading; reviews and comments are very much appreciated!_**


	12. Chapter 12

**_Author's Note: WARNING: this chapter might just be super cheesy, I am aware of this and apologize beforehand. I was suffering from massive writer's block and just typed my first thoughts of what I imagined playing out. It should be sweet though, just a bit of fluffy friendship. Thanks for reading and reviewing so far!_**

* * *

_He HAS to see me. I definitely know he sees me._

"I know you're awake, get the hell up." Beth commanded as she entered the cell, flipping on the lights. Somehow, in the two minutes it took her to get downstairs, Loki had managed to get the lights off and get into bed. Dumbass.

"W-what? What are you talking about? Do you have any idea what time it is?" he winced at her, pulling the covers slightly more over himself.

"You should know by now that I'm not stupid. I know you don't sleep in your shoes." She pointed to his feet, where he was indeed still wearing his laced-up green Asgardian shoes.

"Damn," He sighed, relaxing slightly, "I suppose you'll want me to get up?"

"Are you clothed?"

"No."

"Stay."

"Your loss." he grinned mischievously at Beth. "What brings you here, darling? Come to tell me all about your date? Or did you just miss your favorite charge?"

She rolled her eyes, "As if. The game's over, I know you can see me. Through the cameras. You've seen me this entire time. Tell the truth."

"Yes. I can see you."

"How?"

"I didn't have all of my magic taken, just most of it. I have just enough to see you through the camera, like you see me."

"What have you seen?"

"You would slap me if I told you."

"Fair enough. Why do you do it? What the hell interests you in my life?"

"You're fairly boring, actually. In your office, that is. I have nothing else to do in this dreadful place, it's fun."

_He's being so honest with me… _

"Why are you telling me the truth?"

"How do you know it's the truth?"

"I just do." She said softly.

* * *

"If I tell you the truth, you'll tell me the truth. It'll make my stay here much less boring." But really, Loki had no idea why he was suddenly telling the truth. It just suddenly came spilling out.

_If I'm honest with her, she will be honest with me; she'll tell me her secret._

Loki waited for a reply but she just stood there, unsure of what to make of him. He continued the conversation, "So are you just going to stand there or will you tell me all about that date of yours?"

"You don't actually care, do you?"

"Well, no, but I must admit that it's nice to have someone to talk to, even if it is just a human. Come now, Bethy, do I always have to be sick to have a conversation with you?"

She flushed red. "Don't call me that!"

"Oh, but it's cute."

"I am not cute, I am an agent of this organization and you are my prisoner."

_Oh, right, she's supposed to be authoritative. _

"I apologize, Beth Yrian. You may stay and talk if you wish."

"Alright. Well… it was fun." She said, sitting down. "We talked about the military, S.H.E.I.L.D, and… well, and you."

Loki was caught off-guard. "Me? What did you say?"

"I told him that I sat with you last night because you were sick; he told me that you were homicidal, crazy, and that I shouldn't be in your cell by myself asleep."

"He's right, you know. You should never be off of your guard with the God of Mischief-"

"-I told him that you're just lonely."

"Did you, now?" asked Loki, angry that she believed she could presume how he felt. "Pray tell, how would you know this? How could you know anything about me at all?"

"Because I tend to be lonely, too. I know it when I see it. I know, I _believe_, at least, that you've never really had much attention. Whenever you had found out that you weren't Asgardian-"

"I am an Asgardian _prince!"_

"-You must have felt like an outsider. You've done terrible things. Horrible things. But you're not evil, you're lonely and misguided."

"I will NOT sit here and be diagnosed by a girl who insults people because she is too terrified that they will get close enough to see how weak she is!"

"Weak? Who's the one without powers!"

_Aha._

The silence was so thick once she had figured out what she had said that Loki could almost hear her heart banging in her chest.

"Who's the one who told me she has no powers?"

"I don't. I just meant-"

"Don't you try lying to me, child. You have no choice. No games. No running."

"You really think that this is the way to get me to tell you? Cornering me? Calling me a child? I've been trying. Hard. I've been trying to give you the attention I thought you needed, I even started _caring_ about your wellbeing. You told me that you don't trust me until I trust you, and there is no way in hell that I would trust you like this. God, I'm so stupid, what am I even trying to do? You're a prisoner, you're an _interplanetary criminal_. This is my job." She finished, distressed and out of breath. For the first time in his life, Loki felt bad for how he was treating another person.

_What is this? Is this guilt? I've killed scores of people and tried to enslave humans, and I feel guilt at upsetting one girl?_

_Because she was to see you as a person and not the things you've done._

Loki didn't know what possessed him at that moment, what urge seized him and why it made him do it, but he uttered the two words that he had said and meant, at most, three times before in his life: "I'm sorry."

* * *

Beth stopped walking away and stood, not turning around.

_Did he just apologize to me?_

Guarded, Beth turned around slowly to see him sitting on his bed, looking at his lap.

"Are you?"

"Yes." He said, impatiently.

"I'm sorry, too." Beth said softly.

_Maybe we can be friends after all._

"You don't trust me, do you?"

"Loki Silver-tongue? I'm afraid not." She smiled sadly.

"Fair enough. Erm, thank you, Beth." Loki said, carefully.

"For what?"

"Sitting with me when I was sick, the better food, trying to be kind, defending me in front of your boyfriend-"

"-he's not my boyfriend!"

"Defensive, are we? You're treating this like an infatuated schoolgirl." He commented, returning to his smug and mischievous demeanor.

"Hey!" she laughed, checking her watch. "Shit, it's already three in the morning."

"Tsk, tsk, such language. It isn't safe for you to be sitting with a criminal like me at such late hours," he smiled teasingly, "who knows what I would do to a defenseless young girl?"

"OKAY, this is done. I am tired, I have the day off tomorrow, and I'm going to bed. Try not to watch me through _my _cameras, okay?"

"I make no promises, dear."

"Oh, and, I have one more question- when you were looking, have you ever seen me… you know… change and…and get dressed?"

A grin broke over Loki's face; "Pass" was all he said.

"Wait, does that mean-"

"Goodnight, Beth Yrian!" he said loudly, shoving her out the door and closing it behind her. Before Beth could open her mouth again, the lights were flicked off and it was dark in the room.

_Ass_, she thought, smiling to herself and shaking her head as she walked down the hall.


	13. Chapter 13

"Ok-k-kay. I'm not saying- NOT SAYING- that we should like, make f-friends with the criminals and shit, but let's. REHABILITATE. Like a fucking A.A. thing! Criminals Anonymous!" Tony slammed his hand hard on the table, causing some of his fourth bottle of beer to spill over the side.

It was two weeks after that second night with Loki. Beth had gone on three more dates with Steve and spent several nights up talking to Loki. As her relationships with them tightened, she found herself thinking about each while with the other more and more, and discovered that she did in fact have a newfound friendship with Loki. That morning, Natasha had met her in the hall and the two started talking about Beth and Steve's latest date.

"You guys are sooo cute. I love it." She said, playfully pinching Beth's cheek. "Hey, isn't it about time you go check on Loki?"

"Nope, I've got the day off."

"Oh, sweet! What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, what do you-"

"Party!" Natasha suddenly called.

"What?"

"I haven't been to an apartment party in forever, you should have one!"

"Oh, well, okay, let the others know, I guess." Beth shrugged her shoulders at the thought. She thought it would be fun. She didn't think everyone would bring cases and bottles of liquor.

Beth now looked around the room. Two hours and six drinks in, Natasha and Clint were 'rekindling' their relationship on Beth's bed.

_I swear, if there's a mess they are paying for the cleaning bill._

After much persuasion, they had managed to get Bruce to drink, and he was now happily and slightly incoherently telling Steve exactly why he is a good man and a biological marvel while Steve himself giggled like a little girl.

Turning back to her conversation with Tony, Beth focused her eyes on the middle of the three Starks she saw, grasped her wine glass, and told him a bit too loudly, "EVERYONE NEEDS FRIENDSHIP. If you dd-don't make friends with them, they hate people. If they hate people, they KILL THEM."

"What in the hell is going on here?" Everyone stopped what they were doing (well, except Clint and Natasha) and turned towards the doorway, where a very annoyed Maria Hill stood.

"Hayyy Mariaaaa" Tony said.

"Maria, have I told you how smart you are? _God_, you are a great agent. And you are a FANTASTIC PERSON." Bruce pointed at her, smiling widely with a beer in his hand.

"Agent Chednik, could you explain to me why you are having a party in your room?" she asked, staring directly at Beth.

_Oh shit. Oh shit. I'm done for. I won't see Loki again-_

"Oh, stop, you're just sad you weren't invited." Tony said.

"That is not-"

"Well, you were by the way. We couldn't find you, so I texted you and you never responded."

"I never got a- oh." Maria said, checking her phone and seeing that Tony indeed did text her an invitation.

"Come on in! That okay with you, LizBeth?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, sure, um, hello Agent Hill-"

"Fine. But I will remind you that this is a top-secret government organization, not a frat house. Stark, why couldn't this just happen at your house? You're only 30 floors up."

"Pepper's having her parents stay over, can't have parties with them around."

A few drinks in for all of them and Beth was completely out of her skull and Maria was spilling all her emotions about her ex-boyfriend out on an apathetic Tony Stark. Beth saw Steve sitting in a chair by himself because Bruce had wandered away, and decided to start a conversation.

"Well helloooo, Yankee Doodle." She said, plopping down next to him.

"You alright, Beth?" he laughed. Out of all of them, he had the least to drink.

"I am FANTASTIC. Wanna know a secret? I've had a crush on you ever since I _first _saw you. You know you are hot. Hot hot hot. You know who else is hot? Loki. He is one smokin' son of a bitch. He's kind of an ass but damn, those eyes."

"What?" Steve asked, confused.

Beth, however, only had the slightest inkling of what she was saying, and kept trucking along.

"I love the conversations we have. He really _gets _me you know? We'll just sit up all freaking night talking. I JUST GET SO HAPPY. So do you though. You're just so awesome. Let's just all be BEST FRIENDS, okay!"

"I think you might've had too much to drink, Beth." Steve said, putting his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders.

"Nahh, I'm fine! Wanna go see him? LET'S TURN ON THE MONITOR." Beth wobbled over to her remote and turned on the screen that connected her to Loki. "What's cookin', good lookin'?" she called, "Loki! Hi! Steve and I think you're _hot_."

Steve quickly grabbed the remote just as Loki turned his head around. "Beth! I think it's time for you to go to bed." One look inside of Beth's bedroom and, beet red, Steve realized that it was taken.

"C-can I have a _hug?_" Beth asked, plopping into Steve's arms. When he realized that she was near-asleep, he scooped her up, wobbling to the side a bit, tipsy himself.

"The host has gotta leave early, guys!" he called, walking out the door. Nobody really noticed.

* * *

Loki sat on his bed, staring at the camera, more confused than ever.

_What the hell just happened?_

* * *

_Shit, my head hurts. How much did I drink last night? Wait, where am I?_

Beth looked around and called weakly, "Hello?"

She slowly got up, careful to not upset her throbbing head, and walked out of the room. Looking around, the first thing Beth saw was Steve, lying on his couch, asleep. She couldn't help but giggle to herself; he was too big for the couch, so he had to curl up, barely keeping himself from falling off. She walked up to him and gently stroked the hair out of his face, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"Good morning." She said gently when he opened his eyes.

"Oh, right, hey, um, how do you feel?" he asked groggily.

"I'm good, but, what am I doing here?"

"You just got really, really drunk and said some stuff, and then you kind of passed out when I tried to help you to bed."

"Oh God." Beth groaned, putting her hand over her face. That was all she needed. To embarrass herself a little bit more.

"Does that happen often?" Steve asked carefully.

"No, no! I haven't had more than a couple of drinks at a time since college, which must be why it happened! What… did I exactly do?"

"You didn't really do anything, you just talked a lot and told me you had a crush on me ever since you first met me."

"Oh."

"Is that true?"

"A little bit."

Steve smiled at her and chuckled. "What else did I say?" Beth asked.

"Oh, just a lot of random stuff. I'll tell you later, okay, doll?"

"Okay" she smiled at his still slightly old-fashioned language, "damn, my head hurts."

"I'll make us some coffee." He got up, Beth still unaware of exactly how much she told him last night.

"I really need to go check on Loki soon."

"That can wait." He said quickly, entering the living room."

"What do you-" before Beth could finish, Steve's lips were on hers in a sudden, hard kiss. "-mean?" she gasped, finishing her question.

"Oh, just, I'm sure nothing bad would happen if you waited a couple of hours. Just stay here with me and rest."

"I guess that would be okay…" Beth said, giving in to her headache. She didn't want to tell Steve that it was more _wanting _to go see Loki than _having _to. She could wait a couple of hours.


	14. Chapter 14

Loki stared at his slight reflection in the glass of his room, walking slowly back and forth. He checked the clock: it was already three. Beth should have been there once by now. Trying to take his mind off of his tardy jailor, Loki thought about their brief encounter last night.

_What the hell was that?_

He could barely understand what she had said- it looked like she was having quite the get-together. He, of course, wasn't invited. It would be strange, not to mention illegal, for him to be at her party.

_It wouldn't have hurt her to come say hello, though…_

"Hello!"

_Well, better late than never._

"Well well, we're rather late this morning." Loki commented, walking over to the glass of his room to meet her. He looked her over; she was clearly tired. Her eyes had dark circles beneath them and her usual lively demeanor was somewhat slowed.

"I know, I know, sorry." She sighed, going on with her usual inspection.

"What kept you? You look a mess." he commented airily.

"Thanks." She said, grimacing at him. "Just Steve-"

"-Did he do something to you?" Loki cut in, more threatening than he intended to sound. _Did that brute hurt her in some way? _

She looked at him and said quickly, "No, no! He would never! I just wasn't feeling well and he wanted me to stay with him for a few hours, I knew you would be okay."

"Ooh, is your boyfriend jealous of our secret romance?" he quipped slyly.

"Yeah, I think he's on to us, we'd better escape to some far away land and live out our days in secrecy."

"Let me out of this cage and I will make all your dreams come true, darling." Loki winked at her. When she merely rolled her eyes and chuckled at him, he continued seriously now, "I wanted to ask you what happened yesterday-"

"-If anyone told you about anything I said or did they're a liar."

"But last night you-"

"-LIAR." She shouted quickly. Upon seeing the confused look on Loki's face, Beth took a breath and asked, resigned, "Okay, what happened?"

"You mean you don't remember?"

"I remember talking to Tony, Agent Hill party crashing, talking to Steve, and waking up in Steve's apartment with a raging headache."

Loki laughed, "So you were drunk then?"

"To put it mildly, yes. So what happened?"

"Well, you turned on your monitor, and I saw you on a couch with your boyfriend and people around, and you shouted that you and he find me hot, and then he took the control from you and turned it back off."

* * *

Loki looked up at Beth, expecting an explanation, and saw her face grow beet red. She put her face in her hands and bit her lip, wishing to disappear.

_Oh. My. God. Why does this happen to me? Of course it happens to me. My first time getting drunk in five years and I flip a shit. Why didn't Steve tell me about this? What else could have happened that he didn't tell me about?_

"I was just… really shitfaced…" she said softly, still staring at her hands.

"I see you don't have much experience holding your alcohol." He remarked. When he noticed her brow furrowed in thought, he asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Not really, just... when I asked Steve what happened, he just told me stuff I said about him, and he told me there was other stuff he would tell me later. I'm wondering what it could be now, he didn't tell me I did that."

"I'm sure it wasn't anything horrible. Perhaps the Captain is jealous?" a smirk crossed Loki's face at the thought.

_Could that really be it?_

"Quit it, he knows he has nothing to be jealous of. You're just-"

"-part of your job." He finished, tightening his lips.

"My _friend_." Beth corrected.

"But he doesn't know that, does he? Does anybody?"

"Natasha does. But you know it would be dangerous for it to be found out. I would get in trouble, people would think you're controlling me, I would get moved to another station…"

_And I might never see you again._

"It's only a matter of time before I'm allowed back in Asgard anyway." Loki reasoned. Although she knew it to be impossible, Beth thought that Loki had a strange way of knowing what she was thinking at most times.

"How do you know when you'll be allowed back?"

"Thor will come tell me, most likely."

"And when you do leave, do you think you'll ever… I mean, if you had time…" Beth felt like a child trying to find hints about what her Christmas presents might be.

"I never want to have any contact with these humans again." Loki said decisively. "But if by some coincidence you _aren't_ one of them-"

"-yeah, if only. Too bad." She said coolly. Loki should have known by now that she wouldn't be sucked in by his tricks. They may have been friends, but he was still the God of Mischief and a national, global, and galactic criminal. Still, though, something within her wanted to trust him. But she knew better; she was taught to know better.

"Alright, you were just so sweet I couldn't resist." He said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Do you ever do anything besides make fun of people and try to get your own way?"

"Have you ever read a mythology book?"

"So you mothered an eight legged horse, then?"

"Some of it is exaggerated."

"Uh-huh. Well now, I've got to get going."

"Will you be back tonight?"

"Why, will you miss me again if I don't?" Beth smiled smugly at Loki, spotted his indignant expression and added, "Oh, come on, you can tease but I can't?"

"I'm not quite used to being teased."

"Your problem, not mine. I'll be back later, your lunch is here." Beth gestured to the tray being inserted into Loki's cell and walked with a brisk pace up to her office.

_I have to find Steve and find out why he was keeping things from me._

"Hey, can we talk?" Beth had called Steve a few hours earlier and was now sitting in his apartment over a slice of pizza. It was ten at night, just after her second visit to Loki.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" he asked, taking a bite of his pepperoni.

"I really just want to know what you didn't tell me earlier about what I said. And please, be honest."

Almost grudgingly, Steve relayed everything he remembered about the night before, about Beth calling Loki hot and how she told him all about her friendship with her prisoner and their late-night chats. Beth just nodded her head in embarrassment, feeling guilty that it was her boyfriend who heard all of this and couldn't help thinking of the time she watched the movie _Mean Girls_, and only now realized the full meaning of "word vomit".

"Oh jeez, Steve, I'm so sorry, I had no idea, I was just so drunk, but it won't happen again, I promise, it won't. I'll be more responsible."

"It's fine, really, don't worry," he reassured her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Did you mean it?" he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Did you mean it? What you said last night. I mean, I know you don't have any control over what you say or do, but is it true? Everything you said about Loki?"

_Be honest, Beth. He's your boyfriend. Tell him exactly how you feel._

"Yes." She said finally, after a pause.

"You think he's…hot?"

"Well, he's a good looking guy, but it doesn't matter, _you're _my boyfriend, so who cares?" she answered.

"And you talk to him? Really talk? Is that what you do those mornings you get tired?"

"Yes. There are times I stay up almost all night talking to him."

"I really don't think you should do that."

"Why not?"

"Why not? _Why not?_ He's a maniac, Beth! He is Loki, the guy who tried to destroy all of us! He's killed over a hundred people within the week he was here on Earth! He doesn't really care about you-"

"-Yes he does!"

"_No_. He's up to something, trying to get you to let him out or something. I don't know. Don't trust him or listen to anything he says." Steve took a deep breath and grabbed Beth's face gently in both of his hands. He kissed her nose gently and continued, "I'm worried about you. I had a friend named Phil; Loki killed him just because he got in his way. I don't want to see you get in his way."

"Don't be worried. He's... important to me." Beth took a deep breath, and decided that there was no use denying it. "He's my friend, Steve. I know he won't hurt me. I'm not going to stop talking to him."

"Fine," he sighed, defeated, "but be careful, okay?"

"Okay. I'm really tired, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow for lunch?"

"Definitely." He flashed a smile with her, following her out the door.

"Where are you off to? It's eleven o'clock." She asked, confused to see him in the hallways with her.

"I just have to go see someone. Go get a good rest, okay?" He hugged her and Beth stood on her tip-toes to give him a kiss goodnight.

"G'night." She smiled, getting into the elevator and saw Steve get into the elevator with him as well. "Oh, guess not yet." They laughed awkwardly, and after three floors Beth got off, quickly kissing Steve on the cheek and getting to her apartment.

It only occurred to her when she was half asleep that the only things lower than her floor were the offices of Fury, Hill, and the criminal cells.

_He wouldn't... _Beth thought, drifting off to sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

_I rather like this yellow-haired girl, she's devious. She's been plotting that man's removal from the island all along._

Loki was lying on his bed, watching another episode of _Survivor_. Over the past month, he had grown to rather like certain human entertainments… still, he wouldn't miss it when he was finally allowed back home. He couldn't help but wonder, however, if he would miss Beth.

_She was the first person to ever pay attention to me without needing to. Real, honest attention. She was interested in me. She talks to me. Beth is my first real friend._

"Hey, you." A voice commanded his attention; Loki turned around, offended at being addressed in such a way. It was Beth's boyfriend.

_Him? What is he doing here?_

Loki hid his surprise under his usual mask of coolness, "Captain, long time no see. What brings you here at such a late hour?"

"What the hell are you trying to pull?"

"I'm afraid I don't follow. Maybe if you improved your manners-"

"-_Beth_! What gives, what tricks are you trying to pull on her? She may have fallen for your bull but I know better."

"Well first of all, I don't think she would enjoy you being down here or undermining her intelligence when, in fact, she has seen through quite a few of my ruses which, and this brings me to number two, I have not attempted in weeks. Tell me, what is the source of all this?"

"She won't listen to me and insists that you're different and her friend. Why she trusts you is beyond me, but I know better. I know you're nothing but a cold, heartless monster."

Loki yawned, "Is this still about that fan of yours? Coulson his name was? I apologize if that hurt your feelings, but what else would I do when someone points a giant, brutish weapon at me?"

"Shut the hell _up_. You'd better let go of whatever spell you put on her right now, No more making her sit here at night, no more of these 'deep conversations'."

"Has it ever occurred to you that she is an intelligent person with free will who wants to be kind to people? Or do you not have to ability to judge intellect that high?"

"Hey-"

"-I think you're jealous of me, Steven." Loki smirked. He was having fun toying with this one, but something in the back of his mind told him that Beth would somehow find out, and probably not find it as funny as Loki did.

His face flushed in anger, "You? Jealous of you? You're nothing. You tried to take over the world and failed, all you do is manipulate people for your own selfish reasons, even your parents don't want you anymore! You just love control-"

"-Control? You speak of control yet you're the one trying to control who your girlfriend .makes friends with."

"Don't change the subject!"

"I thought that was why you came down here in the first place."

"You-"

"-_and_ if you would just open your eyes and use what little intelligence you have, you would see that she doesn't need your protection, she's probably more capable than you are. Who are you? A glorified patriot who prefers to use his brawn for everything. Just like my dear brother who got me locked up in this infernal place. I grant, you have a good heart, but what use is heart without a mind?"

"LISTEN. You leave Beth alone or I'll-"

"-_You have no right to threaten me, mortal_. I have powers such as you have never dreamed of. What? What will you do? Hit me? You know she wouldn't like that. Run crying to Fury? I'm already incarcerated, that would only result in her losing her job. What can you do, Captain?"

"I don't see your precious powers right now. Why don't you come out here and I'll show you what I can do?"

"Ah, always the logical thinker. Let me just open this bolted and secured door specifically designed to keep me in and give you what for. Maybe I'll go take a walk in the park afterwards, too." Upon seeing the other man's scowl, Loki continued with relish, "If you want to challenge me, human, I'll gladly allow you to step in here. Although I can't promise the commotion won't wake anybody up. Come on, I'm right here."

Loki smirked at him, waiting for his next move.

_This is certainly more fun than television._

Captain America merely banged his fist on the titanium of Loki's room, and said, "If you try anything funny, if you do _anything _to her or keep fooling her into thinking you're friends, I'll be back and I promise you, there'll be much less talking."

As he started walking away, Loki called after him, "I look forward to it, Captain! I'll try not to steal away your girlfriend, but with my devilish charm and good looks, it'll be difficult."

When he was alone again, Loki sat down, realizing how exhausted he was. Not having powers must have drained him physically somewhat, as well. He took a deep breath to stop his head from spinning and was suddenly hit with a thought: why was he so adamant there? Was it because he didn't want to lose a fight, or did he really not want to lose Beth's friendship? The memory of one of their conversations suddenly hit him.

_"And when you do leave, do you think you'll ever… I mean, if you had time…"_

He would never in a million years (well, unless they were ready to worship him) come back to Earth. But would he miss her? They were just friends, after all, he could make new friends. But there was something about that first friendship, the first person to reach out to him and see past his deeds…

_Why won't she admit that she isn't human? I know she isn't, it would be so much easier for us to… to what? Stay friends? Either way, she would be stuck on Earth and I would be in Asgard. What exactly do you want, Loki? I met this girl a month ago- yet look how close we've become. _

Loki shook his head to clear his thoughts and decided that what he needed right now was to sleep and get over these mortals and their stupid, insignificant relationships. Loki turned off his television and got into bed, falling asleep before his head hit the pillow.


	16. Chapter 16

Loki woke up to the sound of hands hitting metal and looked around; he couldn't see anything or anyone.

"Who goes there?" he called out. If it was that brute coming back for him-

"Just me!" Loki relaxed a bit upon hearing Beth's voice but then, realizing he was naked except for his underwear, pulled his blanked closer to his chest.

"Well you could've woken me up!" he shouted to her defensively.

Beth stuck her head around the corner and smiled at him, "Aww are you being shy? Just change, I'll be over here for a while anyway."

"Oh, but then you'll be missing my flawless face."

"I'll live."

"What's so interesting over there?" before the words finished leaving his mouth, Loki remembered the night before.

_It couldn't be; is he really that strong?_

"It seems to be a dent in the wall. This is reinforced titanium, this is almost impossible! Did anything wake you up in the middle of the night? You must've heard _something_"

_I suppose he is._

"No, nothing." Loki feigned confusion.

"Hmph." Beth sighed, defeated. "I'll have to get _some _way of figuring it out. Oh well."

"I didn't get any late night messages, so I assume you weren't up to any more fun?"

She made a face at him, "I don't go out drinking every night you, know. I spent most of the night talking to Steve and then I went back to my apartment and went to bed."

"What did you two talk about?" Loki asked coolly. Or rather, what he thought was coolly. It wasn't.

"You hate hearing about my love life." She replied, perplexed.

Loki put his hands up defensively, "I'm only making conversation."

"Well, I asked him about what else happened that night and he just told me everything I said and we just… you know, talked."

Loki could tell that she didn't want to get into details, so he just scraped for what he could find. "Was it all as amusing as what I experienced?"

Beth gave a dry smile, "Not to him."

"So I gather you got knocked out of your wits and told him all about us, and he was bothered by it and wanted to check if it was true or not?" he was walking on a thin line, but what else could he do after last night? He was almost certain that the Captain was jealous of their closeness, but knew also that he was genuinely concerned about her wellbeing.

_If I were in his position, I'd be protective, too. I don't exactly have the best reputation._

"How did you-" she looked up at him, a look of shock and confusion on her face. "Can you see his room, too? Because I'm not okay with-"

"-just a guess, sunshine. Tell me, when he looked at you and asked you how you felt about me and, knowing that he wanted nothing more than for you to laugh and say that I'm just a criminal you were in charge of and nothing more, what did you tell him?"

"Have you ever seen _Silence of the Lambs_?" she asked, partly in awe and partly in impatience. She glanced at Loki's face; she knew he did not like his questions to go unanswered, so she replied, "The truth."

"And what would that be?"

"That it may seem crazy, but you and I connect and are good friends, and no matter what he says I know you wouldn't hurt me and I won't stop talking to you."

"You remember, of course, that I've killed over one hundred people and attempted to dominate this unimportant planet?"

"Well maybe if you were treated differently and didn't grow up thinking you were inferior to everyone else, you wouldn't have turned out this way. You've done terrible things and I don't trust you. You're ruthless. But you're not evil. You're lost."

There was a pause in which Loki considered Beth. He didn't know how to feel about that; part of him wanted to remind her of his status and berate her for speaking so frankly about him, the other part just wanted her trust. After a long silence, Loki just snorted, "And I suppose that you have everything figured out?"

"Not at all," she laughed, "but I think I can identify someone in the same position as me."

"I think that our situations are a bit different, child."

"You know what I mean, though. Jesus, what made this dent!"

_Your saintly boyfriend._

"I have no idea."

"Hm… well I guess- hey! I just remembered!" her face lit up with an idea. "I can go to my office and watch what happened, the cameras never stop running! I have to go check it out and file a report, I'll see you later tonight. "

With that, she turned and trotted back down the corridor.

_Well, I'm going to be in trouble_, Loki thought, resigned.

_On the bright side, so is he._

* * *

_What could've done that?_

Beth kept thinking of all of the possibilities as she stood in the elevator to her office. A sudden thought came to her: What if Loki had more power than she realized? What if it was just some attempt of his to escape? The possibility hurt Beth; more than she thought it would. She had been trying her best to make it comfortable- if Fury found out how she was "managing her prisoner", she would definitely be in trouble. Here he was, a killer alien, and she was giving him good food, laughing with him, talking to him, staying up all night with him. She wanted him to change. She wished that he would go up to her, give her a hug, and tell her that he was truly sorry for everything he had done, and that when it came time for him to be sent back to Asgard, he would vow to come back as often as he can to see her.

_Imagine how pleasant it would be: watching movies, walking through the park… she could show him around the city, he would probably be interested in it since he stopped wanting to destroy it._

_That's what you have Steve for; _the thought hit her like a punch back into reality. She remembered that this was Loki they were talking about; none of that would happen.

She stepped into her office and turned on the monitor. Loki was just going about his business; did he really not notice her? Or was he pretending?

_Why do I care?_

Beth set up her camera to view last night. She fast forwarded past her visit, scanning for some clue.

"'What the hell are you trying to pull?"

"I'm afraid I don't follow. Maybe if you improved your manners-"

"-_Beth_! What gives, what tricks are you trying to pull on her? She may have fallen for your bull but I know better.'"

_What the hell? What is this?_

She watched through the whole clip, anger heating her body like a fire. She wasn't sure who to be angry at more: Steve for not trusting her to take care of herself, or Loki for lying to her.

_"I just have to go see someone. Go get a good rest, okay?"_

_"So I gather you got knocked out of your wits and told him all about us, and he was bothered by it and wanted to check if it was true or not?"_

_The fucking liars! Steve could have just talked to me, believed me! Loki should have told me what happened!_

"'If you try anything funny, if you do _anything _to her or keep fooling her into thinking you're friends, I'll be back and I promise you, there'll be much less talking.'"

And that was when Steve slammed his fist into the metal.

_He really is a super soldier. Well, there's another thing Loki lied to me about. Just when I was beginning to trust him, too._

She knew Loki wasn't fooling her. She thought Loki wasn't fooling her. She hoped. He'd gotten someone to talk to, better food, good treatment… what if he _was _just using her? What if he just wanted to get him out?

_No, it can't be, no._

Either way, it looked like her afternoon routine would happen a bit earlier than she expected. Beth slammed the door behind her and got back into the elevator.


	17. Chapter 17

**_Author's Note: Sorry it's been a few days, I've had crazy things going on to sort out, this story is kind of my happy place, so I'd just like to thank everyone who's been reading and everyone who's been reviewing, you are all awesome. Anyway, this chapter is going to be another slightly emotional one, obviously we're getting into the meat of it. I see both Loki and Beth as kind of brats, so you'll be seeing a lot of that._**

"Hey, asshole!" Loki heard the phrase and sighed; he knew it would only be a matter of time.

_And here it comes._

"Well if you call me that you can't complain about being called sunshine." He commented.

"Why- you should've- how can you- and I almost- bah! Ughhh!"

"What do we know about using our words?" Loki knew that his sarcasm wouldn't help him one bit in this situation; still, he couldn't very much help it- he wasn't Loki Silver-tongue for nothing.

"God, shut up with your quips. How could you not tell me this happened? You're both just unbelievable. You knew about the wall and everything! You knew! I thought we were friends, I was finally starting to-"

"_I _did not make the dent in the wall. Do you know what I was doing? Did you even hear the words? I was defending you because that star-spangled boyfriend of yours thought you were stupid and defenseless!"

"But you lied to me!"

"To protect you!"

"No. Not that, anything but that. Why the hell does everyone think they have to protect me? I don't _need _protection, I can handle myself! All I need is the truth! Why can't people see that! You of all people! I thought- I almost thought- that… that I could trust you! But then you go and lie to my face like it was nothing! This is my fucking _job_, Loki."

"Why are you down here yelling at me!" Loki had run out of patience. All he did was not tell her about her boyfriend threatening him to protect her and keep her happy, but she was far too stubborn to see that. "_He _came down here, and treated me like someone who wants to just toss you aside and kill you! He thought I was using you-"

"-well, are you?" she shouted. The words hit Loki harder than expected.

_Is she serious? She sat with me at night. She gave me better food. She listens to me. Now because of some idiot she thinks that it was all nothing. That I'm the same as I always was._

"Why would you think that?" he asked softly.

"Well… look at us! You would have been so much more miserable here without me. How do I know you're not just manipulating me into giving you better food and a nicer time? You're Loki, the God of Mischief."

"Have I not tried tricks on you when we first met? Have I not given up on those tricks in favor of friendship? Have I not spent nights talking to you, being kind to you? Yes, I have done terrible, awful things in my eighteen hundred years. But I never had anyone care about me! Ever! Yes, I've had my family, but I was always cast into Thor's shadow! You were the first to see me for myself. As a person. I may be a tricky man but I'm not a stupid one- I wouldn't throw that away."

"How should I believe you?"

"I don't know! By all evidence you shouldn't. But I am telling you the truth. I am sorry for lying to you. I wanted to protect you. I can assure you when he confronted me I only had your best interest in mind; I'm sure he thought he did as well. You'll just have to trust me."

* * *

_Trust me… trust me…_

Loki's words seemed to hover in the air after he had said them. How was Beth supposed to trust him? Or Steve, for that matter? The fact remained that both of them had lied to her. Neither trusted her to tell her the truth. _Protecting_ her.

"I don't know. I don't know what to do."

At this, Loki seemed to get angry again. "I understand." He said. "No matter what I say or how much you claim to want to help me, you will never believe me. I'll never be anything but the prisoner you decided to pity. I suppose now you'll go to your saintly boyfriend and tell him all about how I yelled at you after this."

"No, it's not-"

"-I'll never be anything to you compared to him. If he were to come knock me out it would be my fault for bruising his hand with my face. I bet you won't even be angry with him."

"Do NOT turn this against ME!" Beth shouted. "You have no right to tell me who I'm mad at or what to do! You don't know how I feel about him _or_ you! I don't need protection from anybody. I can handle myself!"

"Yet the only friends you've had in years are those misfits who call themselves a supergroup! We both know that you need all the protection you can get. Why did you come to this organization? A new start in life- protection from your old one. You surround yourself with friends for safety. You claim your independence but you wouldn't last a mile away from the Stark Tower."

There it was. The threatening, God-like tone he had used with her during their first meetings.

"You have no right to talk to me that way."

"I don't? I don't! You come down here yelling at me about lying when you don't even bother to let me explain, now you're angry because _I'm _yelling? I am a prince of Asgard, if I wasn't in this infernal prison you wouldn't think twice before bowing before me! You, Beth Yrian, do not understand consequences! If you storm at someone, you cannot expect them not to yell right back!"

"I am in charge of you!"

Loki laughed bitterly, "Yes, when it suits you, you are my jailor. I cannot have anything but respect for you. When you're in a good mood we're friends and equals. You cannot act this immaturely forever, my dear. The world does not revolve to suit your fancy."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, a very sensitive chord was struck in Beth. She couldn't believe that Loki would strike so low as to reduce her to a whiny brat. She wasn't a whiny brat. He was the one who lied.

_He started it._

"I understand just fine. I just thought that someone who's my _friend_ would tell me something important that my JOB depends on. You won't have to worry about anything 'suiting my fancy' anymore. You are not my friend. You're nothing but a selfish liar. I don't know what I expected getting into this. We're done here." With a cold face barely masking her fury, Beth walked away to pay her 'honorable' boyfriend a visit.

* * *

_"You are not my friend. You're nothing but a selfish liar."_

The words echoed in Loki's head as he fell into his chair, breathing heavily. He hadn't had a fight like that in a long while- he couldn't remember having anger this intense since he had found out that his father had been lying to him.

_The self-absorbed child! She thinks that everything just revolves around her. Life isn't fair. Her boyfriend comes down to threaten me, and all I do is defend her and myself against him. So I lied about the dent. She would have been angry even if I had told her. Not everything goes her way._

How could he have been so blind as to think she was different? As to let himself feel so strangely about her. Feelings he attributed to his first strong friendship. He now remembered why he didn't have any in the first place; they were too much emotional work.

_Then why won't the feelings go away?_

Feeling the angriest and all around worst he'd felt in a long while, Loki got up and kicked over his chair. He walked up to the nearest wall and hit it with all his force.

It didn't even leave a mark. Loki sighed; he was no Captain America.


	18. Chapter 18

**_Author's Note: Sorry it's been a while AGAIN. I promise this will stop soon and I'll go back to my regular every night/every other night uploading. Until then, thank you so much for reviewing and sticking to the story, you guys are the best!_**

Beth was standing in the elevator when it happened. She thought of Loki's face when she asked if he was using her. The surprise and, even pain etched into it. She thought of Will's face when he saw her fight off the thugs all those years ago. Now she was about to go yell at her boyfriend and probably see his sad face as well.

_What's happening?_

As if a plug was pulled, all the anger was receding from Beth's body. She suddenly started feeling heavier, and the elevator was getting smaller.

_What am I doing with my life? Oh God, why do I have to be like this? Why do I have to be different? None of this would be happening if I was normal. I can't… I can't…_

She felt the heat and wetness on her face before she realized she was crying, mistaking her tears for blood for a moment.

Someone stepped into the elevator. Her eyes were too blurry to see clearly. How could someone get in? Beth was sure the elevator was still moving.

...**a couple of hours later**...

_W-where? What?_

Beth rubbed her eyes and looked around; this wasn't her couch. Or her television. Or her apartment. Alarmed, she got up to recollect her thoughts. Last she checked, she was in the elevator going to give Steve a piece of her mind.

_Oh no, oh no no no, what if this is his apartment? I can't yell at him like this-_

"Beth, how are you feeling? Let me check your blood pressure." To her surprise and relief, Dr. Bruce Banner stood in the doorway, concern etched onto his features.

He walked over to her, and while he was checking, she asked, "What am I doing here? Is this your apartment? What happened?"

"Stark was getting into the elevator and said he saw you curled up in the corner crying and he tried to talk to you, but you just got louder, so he picked you up and brought you here. By the time I saw you, you were already passed out."

She took a moment to let it all sink in. Beth remembered being in the elevator, and she remembered thinking about Steve… and Loki… and Will… and the dizzy, sick feeling. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake her feelings: anger at Steve and Loki, surprise at Bruce and Tony's kindness, fear at what they might think, a bit of guilt for yelling at Loki, and frustration at herself for not being able to be properly angry at someone without feeling guilty afterwards.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she asked, "Does Steve know?"

"No, but if you want I can call him-"

"-no." she cut in, suddenly. She was still, after all, angry, and intended to give him a piece of her mind. For now, however, she didn't even want to see him. "Hey, why did Tony bring me here?"

"He said that he knew Fury and Hill would hear if he took you to the hospital room, and he knew you didn't want the fuss unless it was serious. Plus, I don't think he really gave it a second thought; I am a doctor, after all."

"Wow… that was really _nice _of him."

"Yeah, he isn't as much of an asshole as he'd like you to think. I was just going to make some tea, would you like a cup?"

"I'd love one, thanks." She smiled. When he disappeared into the kitchen, Beth took her phone out of her pocket and checked it. There was a missed call from Steve, and three messages, which she proceeded to check.

'MSG: 'Tasha R.- "Hey! Would u want 2 grab a drink tonite?"

'MSG: Tony S.- "Bruce probably told you how you ended up there, hope you didn't hit your head too hard. If he didn't tell you that part, I dropped you down a few steps. Sorry."

'MSG: Steve R.- " Found a great pizza place on 34th, wondering if you want to go for lunch tomorrow?"

After asking Natasha for a rain check and chuckling at Tony's text, Beth sat, staring at Steve's message.

_No, I don't want to go to lunch with you. I don't want to see you. I can't yell at anyone right now. I can't._

'REPLY: Steve R.- "Can't, sorry. Another time."

_Coward._

"How much sugar?" Bruce called from the other room.

"Just a bit, please!" Beth called back. Poor, sweet Bruce. Here he was, making tea for a sick friend who was just thrown into his apartment. Suddenly, she felt a pang of pity for the man; she was sure he'd have a successful life, maybe even a family, if he hadn't had that accident all those years ago. Life was more unfair to some than to others.

"And here we are. Be careful sitting up, Tony said he dropped you down the stairs when he was bringing you; you don't seem to have a concussion, but make sure it doesn't hurt."

It did hurt a little bit, but compared to everything else, she wasn't bothered.

"Can I…. could I ask you something, Bruce? As a friend?" Beth asked, slowly.

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

"Say you had someone you were committed to, right? And you really, really liked him. But then you met someone else, too, and your feelings get all jumbled. You still like the other person, but the 'really' is gone, and you start thinking more and more about the other person. The other person is your friend, but you start feeling… differently about them. You're afraid that you might like them too. Or maybe even something more than that. Way more. But you're not supposed to. You're really, really not supposed to. He's a bad guy. Or, everyone thinks he is. But you think he's changed. Or, you hope he did. But the first guy is wonderful. He's a really, really, wonderful, nice guy. What would you do?"

Bruce sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Well, I think-"

"-Wait," Beth cut in, suddenly, "Also, both of them kind of screwed you over and you're really mad at them, and the guy you're not supposed to like is mad at you, too."

This time he just raised his eyebrows and stared at Beth incredulously.

"Come on, you're a doctor!"

"First of all, I'm a nuclear physicist and a physician, not Doctor Love. Second of all, if they both screwed you over, then why would you want to be with either of them in the first place?"

"Because I'm an idiot with no common sense or shame."

"Well in light of that, I think that you should let both of them know your feelings, along with the anger and everything, and if you really think it might be love- don't give me that look, we both know that's what you were insinuating- then you shouldn't care what anyone else thinks. And if he loves you back, then he will be honest, and he'll want to change for the better for you." Then Bruce, in an afterthought, asked softly, "So which guy is Steve?" He had the answer to his question when he saw her face fall suddenly into a look of sheepish guilt and she looked down at her lap.

"I see. Don't worry, I promise I won't tell. This stays between us." He smiled at her. Without warning, Beth quickly put her arms around him in a tight hug and buried her face in his shoulder. He chuckled softly, patting her back. "Careful. That's a little tight. Getting hard to breath."

"Thank you, Dr. Banner." She let go, giving him a small smile.

"Sit for a few more minutes just so you can make sure everything's alright. I'll turn on the TV."

As they sat side by side, Beth put her head on Bruce's shoulder, sighing, "I haven't had a love life in years, why does it have to be so difficult now?"

"Be thankful that's all the problems you have to deal with." He remarked

_Nope, it's not._

"Yeah."


	19. Chapter 19

Four days have passed since Beth's panic attack. Four days of guarded actions. Four days of silent trips to Loki's cell, neither of them willing to swallow their pride and apologize even though the frustration and guilt was eating at both of them. Four days of avoiding Steve at every turn, making an effort to not even run into him; except for the day before when he walked into the conference room where Beth sat- she had promptly stood up and hurried out of the room, taking special care not to look him in the eyes. Finally, four days had passed in which Beth felt like she was mentally cheating on Steve. She would never go and hurt him on purpose, but could she go on torn like this? She knew she liked Steve- why wouldn't she? He was everything a perfect man should be: tall, muscular, handsome, kind, brave, and noble; but she couldn't help thinking about the skinny man with long, dark hair and piercing green eyes who also happened to be the Norse god of mischief and lies, an intergalactic criminal, and her prisoner. She thought about it for a moment; she had warm affection for Steve, but for Loki, it was something entirely different; she felt like he understood her, even though they had only known each other for a few months, better than anyone. Beth wanted nothing more than to tell him everything, and for them to accept each other for all of their flaws. Who could she possibly choose?

_What choice is there? It's not like Loki's exactly pining for your attention. Steve, on the other hand…_

She looked down at her phone- five missed calls today, and it was only 3:30. He may not be the smartest, but Steve knew when something was wrong. Beth knew that she should give him a chance sometime soon, and she desperately wanted to repair things with Loki.

_I'm not apologizing to either of them._

With a sharp pang, Beth again started to relive watching the video of the two sneaking around behind her back, 'doing what was best'. She remembered her argument with Loki, and her collapse in the elevator.

_Fucking assholes, both of them. You don't need them._

_Yes I do._

She hated herself for being this weak, but she had to acknowledge that she needed them.

_Do you really need Steve in your life? Or do you just feel guilty?_

The phone buzzed again.

'INCMNG CALL: Steve R.'

Beth took a deep breath and stared at the phone.

_You can't be a coward forever._

She pressed the red button below 'ignore'.

_I can be one for now._

Once she was sure the phone wasn't ringing anymore, Beth turned on the monitor to Loki's cell. The fact that he hadn't even turned to look at her once in the past few days hurt her more than she thought it would; she missed his attention. True, he poked fun at her and made sarcastic, biting remarks, but she knew that he did it purely out of friendship. Why did he have to go and lie?

_He wouldn't change who he is for you. He's not some normal guy. He is a bad person._

_No. He's done bad things but he is not a bad person. Even now he's improved._

_"Have I not tried tricks on you when we first met? Have I not given up on those tricks in favor of friendship?"_

Beth knew how serious he was when he said those words. She felt like she knew him as well as she felt he knew her. And something from that told her he was trying to change.

* * *

_She's watching again. What is she trying to accomplish, really?_

Loki was pacing around his room, trying to ignore Beth, who he knew was looking at him right now. He almost felt that she was looking at him more than usual, even though her visits have now been limited to morning and evening, barely fifteen minutes each.

_Probably spending time with her Captain._

He assumed that the two had made up, how could they not? He was perfect, there was no way she would stay angry at him. She was probably even still apologizing profusely about yelling at him.

_I bet he didn't even apologize. Then again, neither did I._

Beth's painfully short visits had been limited to her routine checks, and Loki was sure that she was determinately doing everything she could to not look at him. His own feelings of pride and guilt prevented him from saying anything to her; he wished she would say something. Though he hated to admit it, Loki really did enjoy their talks immensely. He felt that he could really tell her things, that he could tell her about the terrible things he had done, and she would just… pity him. She knew he wasn't evil, and she gave him the attention he needed. She treated him like a person.

_Yet she still has never told me that secret of hers._

She had at least acknowledged the fact that she _had _a secret, even if she didn't say what it was. That was at least something. He just wanted her to trust him, to… what else?

_What is it you want next? Her affections? Her love? You are a prince of Asgard, you have a right to any woman you desire. You don't need this little jailor of yours. Just because she is your friend does not mean she would ever be anything else._

Loki cursed himself and these feelings. Surely it was only because they weren't talking, these feelings of his were magnified. If he were to feel that way for a mortal…

_You don't know what she is._

He would never admit to anyone but himself- and maybe Beth, if they were talking- that he was afraid. Afraid of these feelings. Afraid of being shut out again. Afraid of losing everything that they had built. Afraid of people knowing how truly weak he was.

_Afraid of losing her…?_

One thing Loki knew for sure- he wouldn't be apologizing to anyone anytime soon.

* * *

Beth nearly fell out of her chair when she heard the first thud on her door.

"What the hell?" She said out loud. Almost as if it was heard, a voice came from the other side of the door.

"_Beth_! That's enough! Whatever I've done wrong I'm sorry, but you can't keep avoiding me! At least give me the courtesy of telling me what the hell happened!"

Her stomach sank and Beth's feet felt weighed down by cement as she walked over to the door. Slowly, she opened it, revealing a distraught looking Steve staring down at her.

"I'm really busy right now." She lied. It didn't work.

Looking to make sure there were people around, Steve yelled, "Agent Chednik this is a matter of international security! If you do not comply and let me in I will be forced to use armed action-"

"-Okay, okay, fine, come in!" she said, attempting to hush him up. After closing the door behind her, she had Steve sit down.

"What do you want?" she asked him, resigned.

" I want to know what's going on! I want to know why my girlfriend's been avoiding me-"

"-and I want to know why my boyfriend lied to me and threatened my prisoner." Like an electric shock, Beth felt the anger flood back into her all at once. Steve stared, dumbstruck.

"How did you know-?"

"I'm not stupid; I looked at the video when I saw a huge fucking _dent_ in the wall! I mean, how could you just go down there like that? You didn't even tell me, you hid it from me! You lied to my face!"

"I was trying to protect you-"

"SHUT THE _FUCK _UP WITH PROTECTING ME! I don't need you to protect me!"

"Obviously you do if you're going to let a criminal mastermind get into your head and make you think that you're friends! If you saw the video then you'll know that he insulted me right back. I bet you didn't even yell at your precious 'friend'"

The fury burned her like a wildfire. "You don't know that. You don't know anything about me. I'll have you know that I did yell at him. I probably even lost him as a friend-"

"-he never was your friend!"

"You. Don't. Know. That." Beth said through gritted teeth. "You don't know him like I do! He's different. All he needed was love and attention-"

_Shit._

"Love? He needed love! You gave him _love_?" Steve asked, angry now.

"No, it's just an expression. I don't actually-"

"Then tell me he means nothing to you."

"What?"

"Look me in the eyes. Tell me that Loki is nothing more than a prisoner that you're kind of friendly with. Tell me that when he's gone, you'll stop thinking about him, and it'll just be a memory of you having a pleasant time at work.

_Tell him. You don't feel anything for him. You don't-_

"I can't." Beth said softly, after a long pause.

Steve stood up so suddenly that his chair flew backwards. "And why not?"

"Because I don't know. I don't know how I feel."

_"…you should let both of them know your feelings… And if he loves you back, he'll want to change for the better for you."_

"What, so you think you have _feelings _for him now? Don't you see, he's tricking you!"

"No, he isn't." Beth said with finality. Something told her that what was coming out of her mouth now was the truth. "He's not. I'm his friend. I'm his only friend. I've… helped him, I think. And we have a connection. I don't know what to do, I'm sorry."

"So you're… you're trying to _choose _me or him?"

"I don't want to think of it like that, Steve, you're a great guy and you've made me so welcome here, you're so wonderful. I just don't know, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I feel awful. I didn't want this to happen-"

"-Let me make the choice easier for you." And just like that, the door was slammed in her face and he was gone.

_I lost my best friend and my boyfriend. God, I'm such a bitch. I have to fix this… but I have to figure out how I feel. I never wanted to hurt Steve._

As if she didn't feel terrible enough about herself, Beth turned and was mortified to discover that she never had a chance to turn off the monitor.

She stared into it and saw Loki staring back, a look of confusion and shock on his face.


	20. Chapter 20

**_Author's Note: I am so sorry about how long this took. This took so long to think of. I apologize profusely. :(_**

Loki tried to think a thought. Any thought.

Nothing was coming to his mind. It was as if someone had picked him up and spun him around several times. He couldn't think and he couldn't move; all he could do was keep staring into Beth's horrified face.

"You weren't supposed to hear that." She quietly whispered, barely moving her lips before turning off the monitor.

As if struck by a bolt of lightning, Loki suddenly felt the feelings towards Earth's destruction drain out of his body. The bitterness was gone. The hatred was gone. He just… wanted to speak to her. He wanted her to apologize and then apologize himself and ask her about her feelings. And then he wanted to… hug her? He didn't quite know what he wanted. All Loki knew at that moment was that he was more confused about his feelings than ever. He clutched his head as the dull throbbing returned for the third time that day. He was sure of it now, he had been growing weaker on Earth; he had not had proper food, shelter, or exercise in months… not to mention they had taken a great deal of his energy away when they took his powers.

"I _thought_ that I was pretty damn clear the last time we talked to not try any funny business!" a voice boomed, accompanied by footsteps thundering down the hall.

_Spectacular timing as always, you star-spangled baboon. _

Loki knew it was going to happen eventually. He was sure of one thing; he wasn't going to show an ounce of weakness.

"What's the problem, Captain? Relationship troubles?" Loki asked lightly, walking slowly to the glass.

"Don't pretend. What did you do to her? I know you put her under some cockamamie spell of yours-"

"-I told you the last time we met, Steven, that I have done no such thing. Oh dear, has she broken up with you? I suppose she realized that brute strength isn't everything."

"She has _not_! She's… she's confused…"

"As to whether she prefers you or me? Tell me something, Captain, do you believe that if I had anything to do with this, she would have hesitated? Do you believe that she would have looked at you so sadly before telling you that her feelings for you-"

"-That's it, buddy, you'd better watch what you say next." As an added bonus, he threateningly hit the glass; it didn't crack, mercifully, but it did shake menacingly.

_Come on, then. Let's see how far your muscle takes you. I am Loki, son of Odin, I do not fear anybody._

"Why? What do I have to fear from a mortal? I think you're scared. Scared that Beth will come and tell me her feelings, and I'll reciprocate! You're afraid to lose."

"You don't DESERVE her!" he yelled, hitting the glass again. A crack. Loki definitely saw a crack form where his fist had made contact.

"Maybe I don't, but neither do you. She does not deserve someone who thinks that she's so helpless that he has to come and threaten a powerless prisoner just so that she cannot be friends with him. She does not deserve someone too thick to see what is going on right in front of him-"

"ENOUGH!" the Captain roared, going over to the door and wrenching it open. He entered the room and stared at Loki, poised to strike. "Let's settle this now, man to man. Unless you're too much of a coward, on top of being ruthless and conniving. "

Loki was angry now. He was called many things but nobody called him a coward and got away with it. He straightened up and puffed out his chest, and discovered that he stood a few inches shorter than his adversary. He realized that he would have to rely on his swiftness and agility to outmaneuver him, seeing as much of his strength was gone, along with his staff and powers.

"You wish to challenge me, mortal? Come," he laughed, spreading his arms, "let's see if your primitive ways are enough to recapture that beauty of yours."

With a grunt, Steve swung his arm forward, and Loki gracefully ducked under, concentrating with all his might and, to his surprise, managed to teleport himself to the back of the super soldier. He then bent and kicked his feet out from under him, sending Steve to the ground.

"Better try harder than that, Captain." Loki said, jumping out of the way when Steve got back on his feet. He noticed how much that one small burst of magic took from him; his head spun for a few brief seconds, and he had to stop to catch his breath.

"Running? That's your strategy? I knew you were scared." Steve declared, going at Loki again. Loki managed to get out of the way just in time, noticeably slower than before. He bent Steve's arm behind his back, barely able to hold him. He then kicked the small of Steve's back and, with a grunt, Steve fell to the ground again.

"It looks effective so far." Loki commented. All of a sudden, Beth's face appeared in front of Loki, her blue eyes staring, concerned and with the same sad, betrayed look she had given him after his last encounter with her boyfriend.

_"I thought you were better than this, Loki." _Her voice seemed to say, _"I thought you changed. I trusted you… trusted you…"_

"I have changed," he whispered, staring wide-eyed into his hallucination, "because of you."

Loki didn't know what happened to him at that moment, but he lost the will to fight. He wanted Beth to know that he was better than that, though her saintly boyfriend might not be. She had changed him; there was no doubt of it now. He didn't need to fight. He didn't need to worry about being left behind or ignored, because she would be there. She was his friend. He trusted her, he realized now, he loved her. He didn't know it then, but Odin was smiling down on his adopted son, proud that at long last, he had made peace with himself.

Unfortunately, however, this epiphany left him oblivious to everything going on around him, including Steve's fist going towards him at an alarming speed. Loki noticed it only a split second before it made contact with his cheek, sending him flying through the air, only to be stopped by the hard metal wall. He slid down to the floor in pain, fully aware of how weak he was. Licking his lip and tasting the blood on it sent a pulse of anger through his veins, but he knew that he must not fight. For her sake. Struggling, he got up just in time for Steve to run into the wall where he had been a few seconds earlier.

_That one was his own fault._

"Do you really think she would want us fighting? Would that be best for her?" Loki asked him. If he refused to fight, he could at least talk him out of fighting as well.

"Don't you try and get in my head!" he said, going at Loki again, who yet again dodged his blow.

"Please, if I wanted to do that you would have been long gone. You claim to have feelings for her, yet you know she would be angry to discover you here."

"It's for her own good!" he yelled, "She's too naïve to know your tricks, but I know what you're capable of!"

"I've _changed_."

"Fat chance of that! I'm not asking you to change or stop being the scummy bozo you are, I'm demanding that you stop the tricks and stay the hell away from Beth!"

"Open your eyes! Open your eyes and look at her! She is _happy_! You are attempting to fight me for your own selfish reasons!"

"Enough with your games. Put your dukes up." Steve threw another hit, yet this time Loki was too slow to dodge it completely and it caught him on his side, and a terrible pain shot through him. He gasped and tried to keep himself at a distance, yet the memory of Beth's face kept him from fighting. She did still care for the brute, after all, she wouldn't want him harmed… plus if he kept going, he would be the only one she was angry at.

Loki dodged once more, but didn't see the chair behind him.

His foot caught.

He hit the ground.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Steve said, lifting Loki by the collar. Loki had a painful flashback to when their pet monster had smashed him into the floor. He hoped it wouldn't be as bad. Steve slammed Loki into the wall, hard. Loki swore that he could see stars in his eyes as the pain throbbed in his skull.

_So much for nobility, eh Captain?_

Footsteps. Light, quick footsteps. Could it be? No… but they kept getting louder. Yes, Loki was sure he wasn't imagining them this time.

"Beth…" he gasped, but before he could say anymore the larger man's grip tightened and he slammed him against the wall again, harder this time.

"No. Don't even try, no more words." He said.

Fortunately for Loki, Beth had walked in right at that moment, and he saw the shock, fear and anger in her eyes right before she… changed.

_So there's her secret._


	21. Chapter 21

_Oh God. How could I have done that? How could I have not turned off the monitor? Stupid stupid stupid. Now he probably thinks I'm ridiculous on top of everything else._

_Calm down. This is your job. It's not like you're going down there just to see what he'll say. Right? Just doing my job._

Beth snapped out of her trance when she heard something slamming against metal. Hard.

_Shit, what's he doing? _

"Beth…" she heard softly. Her pace and heartbeat both quickened. It was definitely Loki; his voice was thick with strain. What happened?

Another slam.

"No. Don't even try, no more words." Beth walked into the room.

It was Steve.

Slamming Loki against the wall.

_No._

Without thinking, Beth ran into the mangled door and concentrated all of her energy. As soon as she put her hands up, both men we suspended in the air for a brief second before she sent them flying in opposite directions. Steve hit the opposite wall with a grunt, not without causing a massive dent on contact. Loki, on the other hand, just slid down the wall he was already pushed against, landing with a 'thunk' on the ground.

"What the fuck happened here?!" she yelled. She extended her yellow arms towards both of them and held them, suspended, in the air in front of her. On a closer examination, she saw Steve, glistening with sweat and breathing heavily. His eyes shone with anger and he had a black-and-blue on his upper cheek.

Her heart dropped a little when she saw Loki. His hair was disheveled, and he had a large red bump and a small line of blood on his forehead, not to mention a bleeding cut on his lip and a bruise on his jaw.

Steve fought against Beth's invisible grip, staring at her in shock.

"What is this? What are you?" he asked.

"How could you do this?" she asked in return, "He had nothing to do with this! It was all me. He didn't even know how I felt."

"He's tricking you. Look at him. You know who he is but you won't listen to me."

"You never trusted me!" she yelled.

"Trust? Don't tell me about trust. What is all this? What are you? How could you not have told me about… about… I don't know what the hell!"

She released her grip and both fell again.

"I don't think that was high enough, I can still feel some bones intact." Loki croaked after he landed on the ground.

"Quiet, Loki." Beth threw she turned to Steve, "I couldn't tell anyone. Nobody would understand. You wouldn't have, either. I'm normal."

"_None _of this isnormal. That's your problem, Beth! You don't trust anyone! At least, except _him_. Fine, you want to keep being tricked? Go ahead. I'm not sticking around to be made a fool of."

He had courtesy enough to straighten out the door before he slammed it behind him, walking away.

Only then did she remember Loki, lying on the ground.

_He got beaten up because of me. There is no way he'll feel anything for me now._

* * *

Loki stared up into Beth's concerned face, unsure what to make of what had just happened. He looked her over; her skin was a faded lemony color and she stood quite a few inches taller, with violet hair cascading down her back. Her features still looked human, but her eyes were a brilliant purple to match her hair.

_So I WAS right about her name, wasn't I?_

He grabbed her hand for help and slowly started to get up. His side was burning; he might have broken a rib. If that wasn't enough, his head still felt like it was being slammed into the cold metal wall repeatedly.

"Well, since you already know." She said with a small, resigned smile. She then lifted her hand and Loki found himself being raised into the air by an invisible force, and then laid gently onto his bed.

"So. Are you going to tell me?" he asked, wincing as he tried to sit upright.

"You need medical attention!" she said, looking him over.

"And what will you tell them then, hmm? I'll be find, I am a god after all."

"But… oh I'm so sorry, he should go picking fights with someone his own size."

Loki stiffened at this; so she thought that he just got beaten up?

"Beth Yrian, do you honestly think that I did not stand a chance against a human? Me?"

She laughed at his ever-cocky demeanor and Loki watched as comprehension dawned on her face. She gently grabbed his hand and looked at him with a mixture of respect and… what else? If he had dared to hope for any better he would have said it was affection; still, he needed to proceed with caution.

"You… you didn't fight back, did you?" she asked softly. He only squeezed her hand in return.

"Do you trust me now?" he smiled.

Beth sighed, "Fine, but let me do something to help you." She gently pressed him down onto the bed, then ran her hands across his body; it was as if all of his muscles started slowly unwinding, though the pain was still present, it lessened to a persistent ache. He tried to move and found that all of his muscles felt at least fifty pounds heavier.

"What did you-?" he asked, confused.

"I took most of the energy out of your muscles so that you can't feel them as much. Don't worry, it'll return in a few hours, I pretty much just put your body to sleep."

"How?"

"Well, remember when you said something about a man named Yrianar? That's my grandfather. He's currently well over a thousand- maybe ten thousand- years old. He's the king of Alfheim, and as your father protects the nine realms, my grandfather sees that the sun rises and sets over them each morning and night. He controls cosmic energy, and the rest of my family extends down from his powers.

My mother, Alevara, can control natural energy- the trees, the wind, the flowers- she's in tune with them all. She and her friends made a trip down to Earth thirty years ago, like most 'young ladies of the court' could do. Only they thought that it would be fun to go on one of those 'mortal tours'; basically they thought it'd be neat to take a tour of the city on a double-decker bus. Their guide was a handsome, young college kid going to NYU who did tours as a summer job. Needless to say, she was infatuated with him at first sight. She made herself look like a human and got him to ask her out, and she would travel down to Earth to go on dates, only telling him that she's from 'out of town'.

When my grandfather found out, he was furious. He wanted to kill my dad, but my mom pleaded with him, so he told her that next time she went down she would have to tell him everything, and if he accepted her then so be it, but if not, she was never to go back to Earth again. So she did just as she was asked. He was shocked, of course, fainted even. But when he came to, she confessed her love to him and he told her that despite it all, he loved her too, and asked to meet her father. He put on a tux and everything, and apparently he left a good impression since I'm here and they're still married. The only trick is my dad refused immortality because he was born a human and wanted to stay one, so when he passes on my mom needs to go back to Alfheim."

She sighed when she finished her story, staring out into space, yet Loki wanted to hear more.

"And you?" he asked quietly.

"Me? Elizabeth Yrian Chednik. I was born here and I've always lived here. I'm twenty eight. Of course I've visited; I've worn the traditional garb and went through some royal ceremonies, but Earth has always been my home. I'm not immortal, but I have an elongated lifespan- probably about five hundred human years. I can control the energy in people: muscles, I think. But I only look like this when I use my powers or when I'm in Alfheim. I can't help when I change, I wish I could. My whole life we've had to constantly move from place to place because I've lost control and changed, so I never really had any friends. I've always scared people off. I felt like I was nothing. So I joined the army for six years and learned to control my mind and body -the military will do that to you- and then I came here. That's… everything, really."

"Thank you for telling me." Was all Loki managed to say. After a long pause, he added, "So you're not human? And you're a princess?"

"Hybrid, and technically, yeah."

Loki could not believe it. Here she was, the small, defiant girl, his jailor, was actually and Alfheimian princess. He also discovered, to his surprise, that when he looked into the violently purple eyes, he still felt the same way. She was still his friend. She was Beth. And the look that had passed between them then no words could describe. They knew, in that instant, that nothing could separate them.

"So… this is what you look like." He said.

"At times yes, it's weird, I know I'm sorry, I look like a freak-"

"-you're perfect."

It took all of Loki's strength to fight his sleeping muscles and press his lips against Beth's.

**_Author's Note: Hope you all liked that! :) But fear not, this is not the end. I actually have a lot more in mind. At least five to ten more chapters, I'm thinking. _**


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